Cardinal at Work

Stanford University HR

—What is Cardinal at Work?

“Whether you contribute to Stanford’s mission of excellence from a classroom, a laboratory, the campus grounds, an office or online—Cardinal at Work represents the spirit of being a Stanford employee.”

Project Summary

University HR partnered with SWS to adjust the nomenclature for their primary navigation, and gain insight into the site visitors’ understanding of the current information architecture and content structure.

Roles & Methods

Research Methods

01

04

03

02

Test our recommendations

Explore efforts and opportunities

Organization & Association

Evaluate expectations and associations

Stakeholder Workshops

Card �Sorting

Tree�Testing

Usability Interviews

Stakeholder Workshops

01

Tools: Mural, Zoom

Stakeholder Workshops

Understand site objectives, as well as address concerns related to the information architecture on the current site.

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We moderated three (3) workshops in total with HR leadership to discuss their vision for the site, identify opportunities, and what they would consider success restructuring navigation.

Workshop Findings

Some important themes from our findings:

Information Architecture

• Findability / Buried content
• Ease of Navigation
• Unified space for HR-related content

Content Strategy

• Engagement & Support
• Limit inquiries
• Full understanding & utilization of resource offerings
• Work culture

Summary

Overall…

• “The site creates a positive impression of Stanford and HR”

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(out of scope)

• Visual Design/Imagery
• Personalization
• Intranet
• Voice/Tone

Usability Review

02

Tools: Zoom, Internet Browser

Usability Review

Get insights from Cardinal at Work users, to understand their thought process and behaviours while navigating the site, primarily using the main navigation, as well as their concerns regarding the information architecture.

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After conducting a task analysis and prioritization activities, we connected with seven (7) participants over zoom to review the success rate for 16 tasks.

Our Participants

• Manager ~ 1 month experience
• Faculty Assistant ~ 9 years experience
• Student Service Specialist ~ 6 months experience
• HR Specialist ~ 1 year experience
• Strategy & Insights Manager ~ 2 years experience
• Asst. VP Office of Development
• Creative Director ~ 1 yr experience + 13 yrs other roles @ SU

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Success Criteria

TABLE SUMMARY (Tasks 1-8)

TABLE SUMMARY (Tasks 9-16)

Recommendations

• Task 1: University Holidays
• Consider moving University Holidays under ‘Working at Stanford’

• Task 2: STAP funds ~ Reimburse textbooks
• Consider renaming ‘Tuition & Training Assistance’

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• Task 6: Remote Salary Structure
• Moving Compensation to ‘Working at Stanford’ �(original location: Benefits & Rewards)

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• Task 7: GPS Core Competencies
• Consider moving Performance Management under ‘Working at Stanford’ (original location: Learning at Stanford)

Recommendations

• Task 13 - Extending Leave of Absence
• Consider renaming ‘Time Away’ �(previous study suggested ‘Time Off & Leave’)

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• Task 14 - Pet Insurance
• Consider moving to ‘Stanford Sweeteners’
• Consider renaming ‘Voluntary Benefits’

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• Task 15 - Manage retiree benefits for dependents
• Moving to 2nd level and grouping all Retirement content�(original location: 4th level of Benefits & Rewards)

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• Task 16 - Stanford Celebrates You
• Move ‘Recognition’ under Engage (i.e., Community)

Card �Sorting

03

Tools: Optimal Workshop

Card Sorting

We conducted an open card sort with a total of 60 participants to understand how staff would organize and label the information on the website. The activity consisted of sorting 35 cards in total to identify group associations.

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Two follow-up questions:

• Did you consider any alternative groupings for any of the cards? �If yes, please explain.
• Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

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Current Labels

Benefits & Rewards�

• My Benefits Portal
• My Offerings
• Health & Wellness
• Retirement Savings
• WorkLife
• Compensation
• Time Away
• Tuition Grant Program*
• Stanford Sweeteners
• Resources
• Contact Us

Based on Card Sort..

Benefits & Rewards

(alt: Benefits, Employee Benefits)

• My Benefits Portal
• Change your Benefits
• Health Offerings by Employee Type
• Health & Wellness
• Retirement Savings
• Support for families (WorkLife)
• Child Care Assistance
• Stanford Sweeteners (Employee Perks)
• Resources (Insurance Rate Sheets and Plans Documents)

30%

Current Labels

Benefits & Rewards�

• My Benefits Portal
• My Offerings
• Health & Wellness
• Retirement Savings
• WorkLife
• Compensation
• Time Away
• Tuition Grant Program*
• Stanford Sweeteners
• Resources
• Contact Us

Based on Card Sort..

Salary & Benefits

(alt: Stanford Compensation & Benefits)

• Change your Benefits
• Career Guidance
• Professional Development
• Tuition & Training Assistance Programs
• Flexible Work
• University Holidays
• Leaves of Absence

20%

Current Labels

Benefits & Rewards�

• Time Away
• Paid Time Off
• University Holidays
• Leaves of Absence

Recommendations

*Time Off

(alt: Time Away)

• Time Away
• University Holidays
• Leaves of Absence

30%

Current Labels

Learning at Stanford�

• Career Guidance
• Performance Management
• Professional Development
• Tuition & Training Assistance Programs

Recommendations

*Career Development

(alt: Career Advancement, Professional Development)

• Career Guidance
• Core Competencies
• Employee Recognition
• Performance Management
• Professional Development
• Tuition Training Assistance Programs
• Tuition Grant Program*

30%

Current Labels

Working at Stanford�

• Address Concerns
• Grievance/Appeal Processes
• COVID-19 Guide
• Policies
• Recognition
• Flexible Work
• Recruiting & Hiring
• Locations

Recommendations

Policies

(alt: UHR/SU Policies)

• Compensation
• Grievance/Appeal Processes
• COVID-19 Guide
• Policies that apply to Stanford Employees
• Flexible Work
• Recruiting & Hiring
• Work Site Locations
• Protection of Minors
• Reporting Workplace Concerns
• Contacts for UHR Services

30%

Current Labels

Engage�

• Events
• News
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Join a Group
• Volunteer
• Community Celebrations and Photo Galleries

Recommendations

Campus Life

(alt: Community, What’s new / community, Getting Involved, Ways to Get Involved)

• Events
• News
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Join a Group
• Volunteer opportunities
• Photo Galleries
• Covid-19 Guide

30%

20%

Card Sort Questionnaire

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Follow-up questions:

1. Did you consider any alternative groupings for any of the cards? �If yes, please explain.
2. Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
3. How long have you worked at Stanford?
4. Is there anything else you would like to share with us? (optional)

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1. Did you consider any alt. groupings?

Grouping & Categorization

• "Benefits and employee perks have a lot of overlap... It was hard to decide where everything should go."
• "It was difficult to know where to group Covid-19 Guide and Diversity & Inclusion... depending on the content of the pages, I could put them in Community & Well Being or the HR grouping."

Benefits & Perks

• "I felt like the Benefits and Wellness group was too long and could have been made shorter."
• “possibly dividing the benefits, health & safety into two sections”

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2. Were there any cards you had trouble with? If yes, which ones?

Unclear or confusing

• Participants expressed difficulty understanding certain cards or their purpose. Examples include "Health and Wellness," "Child and Family Supports," "Protection of Minors," "Join a Group," and “COVID-19.”

Grouping

• Some participants struggled with categorizing certain cards into appropriate groups. Examples include "Compensation," "Employee Recognition," "Professional Development," and "Volunteer Opportunities."

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3. How long have you worked at Stanford?

8%

28%

<1 year

1-3 years

3-5 years

13%

50%

5+ years

Tree Jack Testing

04

Tools: Optimal Workshop

2023 Tree Test

We conducted a tree test with a total of 69 (72 - outliers) participants to see how often staff would succeed at using the updated Cardinal at Work navigation to complete the site’s top 16 tasks. Note: Compared vs. 2021 results &/or judged by >70% success rate

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Included:

• Two pre-study questions
• Tree test with the top 16 tasks given in randomized order
• One post-study question

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2021 Tree Test

You are thinking about retirement and want to know what to expect when that date arrives. Where will you find that information?

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Success path: Benefits and Rewards > Retirement Savings

2023 Tree Test

Find out how to prepare for retirement.

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Success Path: Benefits > Retiree Benefits Overview > Planning for Retirement

2021 Tree Test

You are thinking about retirement and want to know what to expect when that date arrives. Where will you find that information?

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Success path: Benefits and Rewards > Retirement Savings

2023 Tree Test

Find out how to prepare for retirement.

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Success Path: Benefits > Retiree Benefits Overview > Planning for Retirement

Summary

Key Takeaways

• 12/16 tasks are above 70% success
• Opportunity to reduce duplicate content in newly established categories (i.e Retirement)
• Opportunity to re-think audience navigation in a more global sense
• Well-being and Benefit pages will require inter-linking given the overlap in content
• Time-off might be slightly more findable under Benefits but it’s a close split

Final Iterations

Implementation

After conducting usability, card sort, and tree test exercises we decided to conduct card sort with a total of 60 participants to understand how staff would organize and label the information on the website. The activity consisted of sorting 35 cards in total to identify group associations.

Top Nav - Nomenclature / Grouping

Before

Benefits & Rewards�

• My Benefits Portal
• My Offerings
• Health & Wellness
• Retirement Savings
• WorkLife
• Compensation
• Time Away
• Tuition Grant Program*
• Stanford Sweeteners
• Resources
• Contact Us

After..

Before

Benefits & Rewards�

• My Benefits Portal
• My Offerings
• Health & Wellness
• Retirement Savings
• WorkLife
• Compensation
• Time Away
• Tuition Grant Program*
• Stanford Sweeteners
• Resources
• Contact Us

After..

Before..

Learning at Stanford�

• Career Guidance
• Performance Management
• Professional Development
• Tuition & Training Assistance Programs

After..

Before..

Working at Stanford�

• Address Concerns
• Grievance/Appeal Processes
• COVID-19 Guide
• Policies
• Recognition
• Flexible Work
• Recruiting & Hiring
• Locations

After..

Before..

Engage�

• Events
• News
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Join a Group
• Volunteer
• Community Celebrations and Photo Galleries

After..

Client Feedback

Thanks!