The launch of the 2020 redesigned College of Science website marked the first complete Drupal redesign at Oregon State University. In 2021, we learned that Drupal 7 would be discontinued in the near future. We then began the progress of migrating the seven science departments into our available theme.
This posed unique challenges: The Science theme had been designed for our purposes at the College level. As we worked with stakeholders in the Department, we had to find balance between limited person-resources (only myself and one web developer could work on expanding the theme) and additional departmental needs.
The migration is now in its third year, with four departments launched and three launches imminent. It would be difficult to summarize the quantity of work involved so this page focuses primarily on a few brief examples to show changes in design, user interface, and philosophy.
Microbiology Department Homepage Before
Drupal 7
Microbiology Department Homepage After
Drupal 9
Emphasis on easy access to wanted actions, clear navigation, improved usability for mobile and users with accessibility needs, improved alignment to Oregon State University branding.
PageSpeed Insights
before and after
before and after
We see improvement across all metrics, especially accessibility and best practices. Though improved, performance requires additional work with assistance from Central IT to improve resource queue and reduce redundancies.
Microbiology Department Website
Design Comparisons
Design Comparisons
Drupal 7 vs Drupal 9
The College of Science Drupal 9 theme was built from the ground up on a Bootstrap 5 foundation in collaboration with two developers in COSINE (now Central IT) as a mobile first, design-forward and highly accessible website. Every part of every page was created to support a robust information architecture and rich user experience that shows authentic life at Oregon State, prioritizes information, and connects the user interface to the OSU Brand.
Microbiology Graduate Page Before and After
The long-form landing page complements a robust sitemap and graduate menu so that users who have visited the site before can navigate quickly to a known page – while also creating an opportunity for prospective students to explore. The landing page teases related pages with enough context to support known user journeys, while also promoting discovery into areas of the site they may not have considered visiting (like stories about graduate students).
Microbiology Research Page Before and After
Showing an emphasis on design changes that interaction, showcase life at OSU and connect more closely with the Oregon State brand.
