An Integrated and Engaging Web Experience to Meet Multiple Missions

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine

Client Info

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine is a leading medical research and educational institution with 240 teaching physicians and 300 healthcare providers. Serving 66 counties across Central and Southern Illinois with over 500,000 annual clinical visits, they needed a solution to manage both their educational (.edu) and clinical (.org) web presence.

Industry

Higher Education

Top challenge

• Design and branding of the school of medicine site and the patient care site needed to be cohesive, but also distinct, ensuring that users would readily know what site they were on and not confuse the two.

• Two sites serving distinctly different purposes—patient care and a medical college—needed to be built upon the same code base with corresponding navigational features.

• Content migration was complicated by the enormity of data and multiple content types that needed to be consolidated or modified.

• Different formats for several different content types, as well as multiple filters and search parameters, including geolocation, created distinct demands for search.

Top solution

• A flexible design system expertly accommodated the needs of the school of medicine and the clinical care sites. Integration of color and color blocking contributed to a dynamic user experience.

• Main navigational elements were the same for the .org and the .edu sites. The color scheme and content were the differentiating factors.

• A restructured navigation system and site map, based on actual user needs and interactions with the site, unraveled complexities and quickly provided access to needed information.

• Leveraging the SIU team’s expertise concerning their data, and the relevant content types and fields, Solr Search provided the base for complex search functionality.

The site is amazingly customizable and easy for me to set up permissions and train content editors to use. It’s fun to have the capability to be creative without knowing how to code.

Marissa Weatherford

Web Content Manager, SIU School of Medicine

What We Did

Promet Source conducted a thorough discovery process using human-centered design principles to restructure the entire web presence. We implemented a Drupal-based solution that maintained distinct identities for both the medical school and clinical sites while ensuring seamless integration and easy content management.

Enhanced Content Management

The implementation of Promet's Provus® platform with Layout Builder integration revolutionized content management. Content editors can now create rich, full-featured landing pages without coding expertise, while a sophisticated permissions structure accommodates varying levels of access for over 80 editors.

Unified Yet Distinct Digital Presence

The solution successfully balanced the need for cohesive branding with distinct identities. Through careful design and the Drupal Domain Access module, users can easily toggle between sites while maintaining clear awareness of which section they're in through strategic color schemes and content differentiation.

Advanced Search Capabilities

The implementation of Solr Search provided robust search functionality with filters and parameters. This enhanced the user experience by making it easier to find specific information, whether educational or clinical content.

The Result

The transformation earned both a 2022 Web Excellence Award and a 2021 Silver Davey Award. The new website successfully serves both educational and clinical audiences while providing an intuitive content management experience, as evidenced by the client's satisfaction with its customization capabilities and ease of use.

Strategy & Design

Human-centered discovery process
Navigation and site map restructuring
User needs analysis

Technical Implementation

Drupal platform migration
Provus® platform implementation
Solr Search integration
Domain Access module setup
Layout Builder configuration
Layout Background module implementation

Content & Structure

Dual-site design system
Content migration
Permission structure for 80+ editors

Accessibility & Performance

ADA compliance
Mobile responsiveness
Performance optimization
Calendar module accessibility upgrade

Let’s start your project

Managing multiple sites with distinct purposes but unified branding? Let's create a seamless digital experience that serves your users while making content management a breeze.