Beacon partnered with Auburn University to support a large-scale digital transformation spanning the university's primary website and several key departmental sites. Sparked by their desire for institution-wide consistency and simplified web governance, Auburn sought a partner fluent in Cascade CMS who could manage a comprehensive engagement across multiple sites and their many stakeholders.
Beacon's engagement began with new design elements and a user experience approach for Auburn.edu, then expanded to content strategy, development, and migration across their web ecosystem. After stakeholder research, improvements to information architecture, development consultation, and migrating nearly 1,000 pages, Beacon helped Auburn achieve a more cohesive, manageable, and user-focused web presence built on sustainable content governance.
State College/ University
Priorities
Improving content management, encouraging consistent governance, implementation of audience-based user experience
Platforms Used
Cascade
Beacon migrated nearly 1,000 pages of content across the Graduate School, Undergraduate Admissions, Research, Outreach, and College of Science and Mathematics websites. Through careful planning and strategic restructuring of site hierarchies, the team helped Auburn move multiple outdated sites into Cascade CMS while maintaining content quality and consistency.
Interviews with dozens of university stakeholders helped Beacon better understand audience needs and the unique content challenges faced by each website's contributors. Combined with heatmap analysis, content inventories, and page-level audits performed during the strategy phase, these insights informed recommendations that improved user experience for both content managers and the varied visitor audiences engaging with Auburn's websites.
With the transition of key websites to Cascade CMS, Beacon established a more sustainable approach to Auburn's content governance. Beacon also developed a web-based style guide showcasing Auburn's robust library of website content modules. Auburn stakeholders now enjoy greater control over their websites while reducing the effort required to maintain cohesive content across multiple pages and sections.
To improve user experiences across several Auburn websites, Beacon conducted stakeholder interviews, reviewed heatmap data, created content inventories, and performed page-level content audits. These findings informed recommendations for site hierarchy, content organization, and audience-focused navigation across Auburn's digital ecosystem.
For Auburn's primary flagship website, Beacon provided design and development consultation throughout the engagement. The team collaborated closely with Auburn stakeholders and developers to help shape new visual elements and provide guidance on Cascade CMS functionality and implementation considerations. Beacon also created a living style guide that allowed Auburn stakeholders to preview and evaluate the full library of page content modules available within the CMS.
Beacon developed and refined content across Auburn’s multiple university sites, using stakeholder feedback, audits, and strategic recommendations to create more effective, user-focused experiences. The writing team met with contributors and managers from the different website groups in dozens of interview sessions, learning specific pain points and goals page-by-page to inform the creation of engaging, audience-based copy.
Some of Auburn's older sites contained upwards of 5,000 pages accumulated over the years, with varied levels of organization. Beacon created streamlined site hierarchies, simplifying websites with a standardized navigation structure and reducing overall page count by consolidating and removing large sections of outdated content. The team then migrated nearly 1,000 pages into new Cascade CMS setups for Auburn’s Graduate School, Undergraduate Admissions, Research, Outreach, and College of Science and Mathematics websites.
