University of Limerick

Supporting University of Limerick with UX Research

Student using laptop in university library.

The Problem

The University of Limerick inherited over 100 subsites, each with different stakeholders and owners. With so many contributors and no centralised governance, the web team faced challenges in consistency, navigation, and user experience.

The University needed to create a better experience for students and staff, focusing on inclusivity, accessibility, and usability, while aligning with the UL brand.

Wireframe of University of Limerick website.

The Idea

We immersed ourselves in the UL brand and data, embedding as part of the extended team. Our work focused on understanding user needs and addressing structural issues.

Activities included:

  • Collaborative journey planning for key audiences

  • In-person stakeholder engagement across technology, online, marketing, and student services

  • Competitive reviews of peer universities locally and globally

  • User research: interviews, surveys, usability studies, taxonomy and IA testing

  • Wireframes for desktop and mobile aligned to research insights

Wide image of digital whiteboard showing research steps.
Group of researchers applying post-its to wall.

The Outcome

  • A strong foundation for the University’s full website redesign

  • Clear, research-backed recommendations for navigation, governance, and content

  • Inclusive design principles to support diverse student and staff needs

  • Improved alignment between the UL brand and its digital experience

They then distilled this research into understandable outputs which have gone on to form the bedrock of the next phase of our website redesign.

- Brendan Vaughan, Web Manager, University if Limerick

FAQs

  • What digital challenges did the University of Limerick face?

    More than 100 subsites managed by different owners, leading to inconsistent navigation, design, and user experience.

  • How did Ideas + Outcomes carry out the research?

    Through stakeholder engagement, user interviews, surveys, usability testing, and taxonomy and IA testing.

  • What was delivered as part of the project?

    Wireframes for desktop and mobile, research-backed recommendations, and inclusive design principles.

  • : How did the work support the University’s long-term goals?

    It provided a strong foundation for the full website redesign and improved alignment between the brand and its digital presence.

What next?
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