“We have been clients of Zesty for over 5 years now. Having gone through a number of website development projects with Zesty, I can safely say that they are a highly organised and professional outfit, who take all aspects of website development very seriously, from design to coding. I have worked as the project manager on all three website development projects: LIT.ie redevelopment 2019, TUS.ie interim website 2021 and TUS.ie full website development 2023. During all of these projects, the Zesty team were very easy to work with and ensured that all objectives were met. All three of the aforementioned projects had their own unique challenges but I can happily say that each and every challenge was met by the Zesty team. Today we are glad to continue to use Zesty’s support team to ensure the continued success of our new website.” - Owen Dunne, Website Administrator
Technological University of the Shannon (TUS)
Creating a unified digital experience that combines two legacy Higher Education Institutions across seven campuses and four counties to launch one of Ireland's newest Higher Education establishments.
What we did:
- Research
- Stakeholder engagement
- WordPress development
- UX Design
- Information Architecture
- Systems integration
- GA4 and SEO training
- Ongoing account support
The Client
Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) is a multi-campus university spread across seven campuses throughout Ireland’s Midwest and Midlands region. Their principal campuses are in Limerick and Athlone.
The Brief
Zesty were tasked to support the transition and migration of the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) and Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) websites into the rebranded Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) website with minimal disruption and an enhanced user experience.
The new site design needed to allow for future expansion of functionality, content and growth, ensuring it remained relevant and user-friendly over time.
What We Did
Our relationship with TUS began even before TUS was officially established. Our partnership with their team started in 2018 with the development of the LIT site. This successful collaboration led to us winning a tender to create the interim site ahead of the new brand launch. This long-standing relationship provided us with a strong foundation to help achieve their ambitions with developing the current TUS site as it appears now.
We collaborated with the client’s brand agency to develop a unified look and feel based on their target audiences ranging from young to mature students and parents and carers. ITIL principles were used as the core of our service management methodology, offering a holistic approach and a reliable level of service.
The preservation of the educational heritage at the Athlone and Limerick locations was an especially important consideration. Information Architecture and thorough UX research were carried out to ensure the merging of content from the LIT and AIT sites was unified and the needs of users from both sites were met by the new TUS site.
Through our robust discovery process, we were able to identify and promote specific requirements important for the higher education sector such as:
- Strong signalling of support services
- Diverse accommodation options
- Commitment to student safety
These appeal directly to parents and carers, who hold a strong influence over university choice.
This process also led to us placing emphasis on promoting the university as a bridge into a future career, through tone and content. This was supported by visibility of professional qualifications, job opportunities and more. Emphasis was also placed on the multiple paths that students can take to achieve academic awards and qualifications, particularly through the promotion of part-time, online and blended approaches to study.
Elevated branding, applicable for digital and informational pages, further reinforces TUS’s position as a trusted educational body, and the use of effective and intuitive tools now helps potential students find a course that best fits their aspirations, converting these students into attending students.
Accessibility was also a key requirement and considered throughout the design and development. The website was built to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards and was tested for accessibility throughout the Front-End process. We re-tested during Back-End integration and again prior to launch. As part of our service commitment, this will continue to be audited and tested annually.
Digital Support
To help with the migration, our digital team used GA4 to evaluate high performing pages across both the LIT and AIT sites and generated appropriate redirects to the TUS site.
Since the redevelopment, our team have supported with bespoke SEO and GA4 training, equipping the TUS marketing team with the tools to maintain the performance of the site.
GA4 insights have shown a significant increase in user engagement and retention since the launch, underscoring the effectiveness of our design and migration strategy.
Award Recognition
The site was shortlisted for Best In Universal Design at the Spiders Awards in March 2024.
