MIT Deshpande Center

Project Brief

University web design: How to execute a flawless redesign.

The Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation (DCTI) was established at MIT in 2002 to help bring MIT technologies to the marketplace. In 2011, DCTI was seeking a total website redesign, to address what the Center viewed as a lack of focus both in design and content. Knectar collaborated with Stoltze Design to create and implement a new website that meets DCTI’s needs for a one-stop information center and marketing tool.

DCTI’s goals for the site included an updated design, flexible homepage, user-friendly navigation, and a mechanism for site visitors to make donations to the Center. Also important were the ease of maintaining the site, the ability for non-technical staff to make content updates on the back-end, and integration with social media. Development and design also had to follow MIT Web standards for code compliance and brand identity.

Knectar and Stoltze took all of these goals and requirements into consideration in building a site that is clean, clear, and easy to navigate–both for site visitors and administrators. The system we developed allows DCTI staff to create and manage content of multiple types, including general page content, staff profiles and images, blog entries, and case studies. Even the most non-technical users can perform content formatting via a WYSIWYG editor.

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Collaborator: Stoltze Design