Office of Higher Ed
MN Office of Higher Education
The Minnesota Office of Higher Education (“OHE”) serves millions of individuals and families statewide, connecting students to financial aid and resources needed to make college possible
The department’s flagship website was hindered by confusing navigation, a dated and inaccessible design, and legacy software that was difficult for editors to manage.
OHE needed an experienced partner to lead a full redesign and rebuild that would improve usability, accessibility, and long-term sustainability.
Improved UX
We began with an extensive review of the existing navigation and conducted user testing to validate and refine a new, simplified structure that better served both users and organizational goals.
Accessible Design
Building on OHE’s brand guidelines, our design team introduced a modern look and feel that emphasized warmth and human interaction while supporting the site’s content-heavy nature with a calm, structured layout.
As we neared launch, we again conducted usability testing with volunteers, making additional recommendations and adjustments to the design and layout where needed to improve user experience.
Better CMS
On the technical side, we migrated hundreds of static pages into Drupal, creating a more accessible, higher-performing site with robust tools for editors to manage and update content effectively.
Post-launch showed measurable gains, including an 8% increase in average engagement time, a 19% increase in pages per session, a 6% increase in form submissions, and a 23% improvement in mobile performance.
The new CMS empowered staff with greater control and sustainability, ensuring the site can evolve with the needs of Minnesota students and families. The new site won a design award in 2025.
