The Tech website is getting a makeover, with a fresh look and new features for a more user-friendly feel. The site changes’ unveiling is tentatively set for today. The content on the website will stay where it is now in order to make the change less confusing. “The data is the same. The navigation is the same,” said Matthew Gann, web and digital media director. “It just looks better and runs better. It’s just a lot more user-focused.
“It’s more streamlined. We looked at a lot of code, made a lot of corrections. We’re on a brand new server this year with a lot more processing power. And overall, the network at Tech is getting better.”
In addition to more speed, the new site will also include a campus cameras feature, which will allow students take a live look at several places on campus, including South Patio and the parking lot behind Tucker Stadium.
Every three to five years, the marketing concept for Tech changes to stay relevant. This spurs change in print materials as well as the website, with both transforming to match the look of the new concept.
“It looks completely different,” Gann said. “We’ve listened to feedback about making it easier, and we’ve implemented changes. The big thing is it’s going to be a lot faster.”
Another new feature to keep an eye out for is a more precise search engine. This change, however, will not go into effect right away because of the complicated nature of the operation but might occur sometime in the next six months.
Many of the changes are the results of students thinking of new and improved ways the website could function. Students who have suggestions on how to improve the Tech website can go to www.tntech.edu/web to contact the web and digital media staff.
“I definitely take feedback or suggestions on how we can do something better into consideration,” Gann said. “And a good thing about this system that we’ve put in place is that if a suggestion is something that makes sense, I can implement it immediately.
