Bringing a university’s life online, together

The University of Namibia (UNAM) is the country’s largest institution of higher learning, with campuses spread across Namibia. When we began our collaboration, the existing website provided essential information, but left much of the university’s life unseen. Our task was not only to implement design and functionality but also to help gather and structure the content that would reflect the breadth of UNAM’s academic life.

Organizational highlights

The project was a joint effort between UNAM’s marketing department, which guided the design and content, our IT team, which took the lead on development and planning, and, of course, the various faculties, departments and centers, which provided their content and ideas. The challenge lay in balancing the different interests and priorities of these units while still maintaining a consistent structure across the site. To make this manageable, we started with some templates for core information, such as faculty descriptions, qualifications and contact details, while remaining flexible enough to accommodate special cases. This approach ensured that each part of the university could present itself authentically, while contributing to a unified digital presence.

Technical highlights

Consistent branding through collaboration

At the start, there was little orientation on design, which was visible in early versions of the site. During the collaboration, UNAM introduced a general rebranding that provided a strong foundation for improved design. Through intensive cooperation between the marketing department’s designers and our IT development team, we brought consistent branding together with technical best practices such as responsive design and accessibility.

Accessible qualifications

Previously, information about qualifications was only available in PDF documents. To make this knowledge more accessible and searchable, we transformed the content into dedicated web pages and created filterable overviews, allowing prospective students to easily find their programme of choice.

Enriching university life online

To reflect the many facets of UNAM, the website incorporated a wide range of elements. General features included qualification listings, news sections, staff galleries, image sliders and contact information. Specialized features brought the university’s identity to life: virtual campus tours with 360° photos, interactive maps, publication listings for UNAM Press and an application status checker for prospective students. Together, these elements created a vibrant digital environment and allowed each department to showcase its specialties.