Case Study

ELS.edu

Our role: Research / IA / Design / Develop / Curate
View site: els.edu

As part of the company’s Curation engagement with Local Wisdom, we redesigned and developed ELS.edu bringing new functionality and a modern design to a web application relied upon by thousands of students and counseling agents worldwide. Students can select from 16 different languages to view their options and build their online itineraries. With over 55 centers across the United States and over 18 programs ranging from business courses to general English programs to summer youth camps, visitors to ELS.edu can submit their applications through the website and log-in to view the status of their application as it’s reviewed by ELS.

Cost Calculator

Research, Iconography and Blueprints

  • Surveyed over 180 students, 90 counselors, sales staff and the ELS executive team to identify individual website goals for each stakeholder group
  • Developed detailed path-to-purchase infographic charting users’ purchasing process
  • Constructed a 200 page wireframe document outlining the site’s content organization and user experience
  • Wrote copy for the entire website and developed an organized copy deck for simple and efficient content integration

Cost Calculator

Through our research phase, we learned prospective ELS students find it helpful to identify price early in the buying process. With this knowledge, we designed and developed a cost calculator, which is part of the site’s main navigation. The cost calculator gives prospects the ability to select their program, location, number of sessions, and type of housing in order to see the estimated cost for their selections.

ELS Icons

Speaking in Icons and Photos

In order to showcase the ELS experience, we focused on large imagery of real ELS students. Similar iconography was designed and implemented throughout the site to provide symmetry between the site’s 16 different languages. Visitors feel like they are visiting a new place thanks to imagery of new places used sporadically throughout the site. To punctuate the wealth of information, we employed icons where possible and designed columns to create a hierarchy of information for site visitors. Lastly, our expert copy writers produced the entire site copy deck, detailing each location, program and course offering in an easy-to-understand manner.

Custom Front and Back-End Development

  • WordPress WMPL Multi-Lingual Plug-in: We installed this plug-in which allows 16 different translators to log into the WordPress site through an automated system that notifies translators when new content has been added. Translators write the new copy in their native language and it’s automatically published to the live site.
  • Data Feed: The site was developed to accommodate a feed from ELS’ Oracle database. This ensures information related to pricing and other important data is always accurate on the site.
  • Content Management: The front-end was developed on WordPress allowing ELS content owners the ability to make content updates quickly and efficiently.

ELS.edu