Hogeschool der Kunsten Den Haag

Multi-site platform attracts growing reach at leading art education institutes of NL

Three platforms managed from one central system, resulting in better engagement and audience reach

A world in which art plays a prominent role is a better world. The Royal Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Art, together the University of the Arts The Hague, are committed to this. As an institution for higher professional education in the arts, they train the artists and creatives of the future. Both institutes enjoy a high international reputation and receive thousands of applications from aspiring students each year.

The challenge

To achieve the great ambitions of the Royal Academy of Art and the Royal Conservatoire, good digital services are crucial. Attracting the best students while providing an excellent level of service requires a strategic digital approach. One of the bigger challenges was to give each academy its own identity while the system had to be centrally managed. The desire to manage different platforms from one central system formed the basis for the collaboration with Digital Natives.

Our approach

Together, the University of the Arts and Digital Natives set to work to completely renew both the online identity and digital services. We began with a strategic phase, during which we extensively researched the requirements for the renewed platforms. We frequently spoke with students and teachers and mapped out the main points of focus. Especially in the area of digital services and communication, there was still much to gain. With these insights, we outlined a number of ideal paths, or customer journeys, and designed a prototype to test these on key interactions.

Based on a new identity designed by Lesley Moore, we then started working on the digital design. A design that represents the constant search for new paths and possibilities. Royal, but also raw.

We created one design system for the various platforms, which includes both generic architecture, modules, and components, as well as individual styling, dynamic content, and flexible page and site structure setups. To keep the large amount of information organized, we approached this information as a story. A story that is told step by step and comes with the right details at the right moment.

We developed a custom CMS in Craft, where pages could be easily and flexibly set up using components and modules, and different types of content could be efficiently reused.

After the successful launch of three new public platforms, we then focused on the internal communication systems and services. We designed and developed one central portal for communication with students. Additionally, we transformed that interactive web experience into narrowcasting for on-site screens. This ensures that the right information is always visible to both students and teachers.

Result

With the completely renewed kabk.nl, koncon.nl, and hogeschoolderkunsten.nl, we launched three seemingly different platforms with varying applications in structure and appearance based on one central information system. This digital approach paid off with a significant increase in unique sessions, which rose by 60% within 3 months. Also, the unique visitors, pageviews, and organic traffic from search engines increased by 42%, 214%, and 82% respectively.

The expansion of the system with a student portal also meant a drastically improved digital experience for students. By offering one central portal, they could stop working in a fragmented manner across different services.

Narrowcasting further improved this service by making information more visible on location. This way, we ensure that the right people see the right information at the right time.