UChicagoSummer Program

Problem

The University of Chicago Summer Program's website was a decade old and showing it. Built on Drupal, it had grown unwieldy trying to serve audiences that have almost nothing in common: high school students exploring college-level work for the first time, current UChicago undergraduates, transfer students, and undergrads from other institutions. Each group needed different information, different language, and a different experience — and the old site was serving none of them particularly well. With courses spanning multiple departments across the university, the content coordination challenge was substantial, and the site offered no meaningful way for students to explore and find the right course for them.

Decision

The centerpiece of the rebuild was a course selector — or more accurately, two course selectors that share a single Contentful data source. Pre-college and undergraduate students see experiences tailored to their needs: undergrads get course codes, prerequisites, and transfer credit details; high school students get the same courses presented in language that doesn't assume familiarity with university systems. Courses flagged for one audience, the other, or both are surfaced accordingly. Filtering by schedule, format (virtual vs. in-person), and subject helps students narrow down quickly. Every course got a hero image chosen to capture the imagination — not just of the student, but of the parents often making the decision alongside them. I led the team through content modeling, development, and handled nearly all of the design work, coordinating closely across the multiple university departments whose courses live in the program.

Outcome

The redesigned site launched in 2024 and applications increased by 100% — doubling from the previous cycle. The course selector and hero imagery were significant contributors, turning what had been a flat list of offerings into something closer to a course catalog students actually wanted to browse. The site continues to be updated each cycle as the program grows, with a content structure built to accommodate that expansion without requiring a developer every time something changes.