Mid Sweden University’s website, with over 18,000 pages, is aimed at both current and future students, researchers, employees, and other visitors. One major challenge they have struggled with is the user-friendliness of the “cluttered” website, as the annual user survey often indicates how difficult it is to find information.
Easier to find the right information with AI on Mid Sweden University’s website
Case
Background
Mid Sweden University’s website, with over 18,000 pages, is aimed at both current and future students, researchers, employees, and other visitors. One major challenge they have struggled with is the user-friendliness of the “cluttered” website, as the annual user survey often indicates how difficult it is to find information. Another problem was to get students and employees to read the publications in the news feed, and displaying articles that are relevant to the visitor – not just the latest ones. In surveys, visitors have also requested the ability to highlight information that is relevant “right now” more clearly, making it easier to find.
Objective
Using AI and a new menu structure, Mid Sweden University aimed to make it easier for visitors to quickly find and read relevant information among the large number of published articles.
Solution
Relevant Articles
After a visitor finishes reading an article, rek.ai recommends additional relevant articles to inspire further reading in the subject the visitor is interested in.
Popular Pages
To present the information that visitors are likely looking for, Mid Sweden University uses Quick Links under the heading “Popular” in multiple places on the website.
Recommended Pages
On some pages, Mid Sweden University’s website displays customised content boxes based on the visitor’s profile, combined with content selected by the editors.
AI provides an easier path through the haystack
When you have 18,000 pages, the website is like a large haystack. Since rek.ai adapts to the visitor, relevant articles can be presented. By offering news recommendations based on their interests, students and employees can easily access the information they need. This way, they also discover older news that would otherwise be buried at the bottom of the page – as nobody is aimlessly browsing our site.
Bengt Nilsson
Web Coordinator
Mid Sweden University
Results
After implementing rek.ai, a significant rise in the click-through rates of several prominent pages on the website has been observed. For instance, “Tentamen” received clicks from 44% of all page visitors, indicating that relevant information has been presented in a clear and easily navigable manner.
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