Office of Marketing and Communications
Woman holding phone with OSAM website

Enhanced digital ecosystem

Ohio State’s digital ecosystem plays a critical role in helping our audiences deepen their understanding of the university. OMC is improving our own properties while guiding college and unit efforts to create a consistent experience for our web users — whether they’re visiting by phone, tablet or desktop computer.

In 2022, Ohio State has taken important steps toward improving the cohesiveness of its digital ecosystem with three projects aimed at improving the web experience for our audiences. Those include:

  • A reimagined osu.edu
  • An improved digital approach for Ohio State Alumni Magazine
  • The creation of the foundational Buckeye UX (BUX) system, which will create more consistency on Ohio State web properties

osu.edu

A thorough two-year evaluation, strategy and development process resulted in the launch of the reimagined osu.edu website in late July. The new site meets four key goals:

  • Refocus site content and redesign the site to improve engagement with additional external audiences.
  • Greatly improve user experience across various screen sizes, knowing osu.edu access on mobile devices continues to grow across audiences.
  • Increase the amount of time users spend in our web ecosystem upon entering through osu.edu.
  • Align site content and visual layout with our developing brand work, including leveraging a new enterprise web template system called Buckeye UX.

The new site marks the first complete redesign of osu.edu since 2012. Enhancements include improved site design, updated homepage, audience and topic pages, and the creation of two new pages — an About page and Ohio State Impact, a storytelling ecosystem that highlights how Ohio State positively impacts the many communities it serves.

Screenshot of new osu.edu homepage hero

Digital OSAM

The new website for the Ohio State Alumni Magazine launched in mid-June with a redesigned approach that better meets what readers expect from modern websites. The site, alumnimagazine.osu.edu, features Ohio State’s new branding, faster load times and more frequent updates. Some of the key changes:

  • On the old site, each issue had a different web address, making bookmarking impossible. The new site has a true homepage, so Buckeyes can find out what’s new with a single click.
  • The homepage is now updated once a month, aligned with a newsletter emailed to all alumni — the biggest audience driver. This will increase engagement and build the imperative for readers to visit as soon as an email hits their inbox.
  • Enhancing imagery and introducing layout flexibility make the homepage feel more alive. An emphasis on multimedia stories and stories organized by topic — not just publication date — makes it easier for readers to become immersed in the magazine.
New digital OSAM website homepage screenshot

Buckeye UX (BUX)

Developed by Ohio State’s UX/UI experts, BUX is a collection of components that can be assembled together to build web templates and entire websites that work on mobile devices, laptops and tablets. BUX will expedite the process of making websites look and function in a consistent, brand-compliant manner, integrate accessibility and security best practices and improve the digital experience for visitors to Ohio State websites. The system has been used for Ohio State’s internal-facing Brand Center, but also has been deployed on external-facing sites such as osu.edu, the Ohio State Alumni Magazine website and the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s Health & Discovery. Further implementations of BUX with other institutional sites are coming in FY23.

Screenshot of Buckeye UX