City of Hope has launched a new, redesigned Web site.
The site, which remains at www.cityofhope.org, was revised to be consistent with City of Hope’s brand identity and strategic plan. It is also a means to better showcase City of Hope’s clinical, research and education programs and communicate the institution’s mission.
A new layout and architecture provide users with more user-friendly navigation and easier access to the content most relevant to them.
Staff members from the Communications and Information Technology departments redesigned and rebuilt the site to make finding information more intuitive and efficient and create a sense of focus, unity and modernity.
The new site came about through a team effort, said Frank Simmons, senior director of Web marketing. “Many departments collaborated on the site’s development and design,” Simmons said. “It would have been impossible without input from faculty and staff members throughout City of Hope.”
The institution’s leaders were deeply involved in and committed to the redesign, he noted. Alexandra Levine, M.D., chief medical officer, and Robert Figlin, M.D., Arthur and Rosalie Kaplan Professor of Medical Oncology and acting director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, provided oversight of areas related to patient care. Richard Jove, Ph.D., Beckman Research Institute director, and other scientists provided guidance on organization of research content.
Communications staff obtained feedback from focus groups when creating the site and worked in concert with an interactive marketing firm to redesign it. The new site was announced within City of Hope, but will not be widely promoted for several weeks. The interactive marketing firm will first test the site among several Internet users outside City of Hope to get further user input, and the Web team also will set up tests among internal users.
City of Hope employees in individual departments will continue to form a key part of the Web content creation process as the site evolves. Those wanting to update or change text or other content may do so by sending an e-mail to webmarketing@coh.org or use the “request for service,” or RFS, process available on the employee intranet.
Staff already authorized to make content changes to the previous Web site will soon receive training on the content management system, often referred to as CMS.
One of the new features of the site is an advanced calendar system, Simmons noted. This new calendar allows employees to control and personalize how they access information about events at City of Hope. Users can load City of Hope events in their Outlook calendar, send an R.S.V.P. to events online, subscribe to preferred events and sign up for event reminders. Staff will receive information on accessing and adding events to the new calendar.
The former City of Hope site will be available internally for a limited time. It will reside on a test server. Anyone with questions about the site may contact webmarketing@coh.org.
Additional modifications, including a new way to make donations online, will be made and announced in coming months.