NewCity

Hike Your Own Hike

David Poteet at McAfee Knob on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia

My Big Takeaway from 2023 I’ve never thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail but I live 20 minutes from it. My wife and I help maintain a 2 mile stretch with some of the most spectacular scenery on the trail. I spend a few days on the AT every year, joining the flow with folks who are […]

NewCity’s Seven Pillars of Higher Ed Digital Strategy

multi-colored plastic pillars along a wall, looking up

In our three decades of research and work with higher education audiences, we’ve identified seven things we must do well for any digital experience that supports enrollment. When you partner with NewCity, we keep these front and center.

Build Your Digital Playbook & Toolkit

Icon of a notebook, tools, and a person

Every leader who shapes the web presence of a big organization wants to deliver a powerful online experience, one that reflects the brand, attracts people and delivers great service at all levels – from the main gateway to the smallest department.

How to personalize website content in Higher Ed

A laptop decorated with multiple stickers

Chances are if you are responsible for digital or content strategy for your university or college, you’ve had a conversation about how you could use personalization to better engage your audiences and get more conversions. Maybe someone has said “Could we have a personalized web presence like an e-commerce site?”

2020 marks NewCity’s 25th Anniversary

David Poteet pondering sticky notes used in a content strategy session

In 1995, I was 27. Both the web and my marriage were two years old. I started a company because I had some less-than-awesome work experiences, and imagined a workplace where people collaborate on meaningful projects without ego, drama or hierarchy – a team of peers who are there for each other when it counts.

Experience Mapping

Woman looking at public transit map on a digital sign

An experience map depicts the possible journeys each audience has or should have with your organization both on the website and through other channels. It also serves as a powerful tool to communicate our vision to other stakeholders. An experience map includes: It’s also important to understand how people enter the site and what happens […]

KJ Method

People standing in front of window with sticky notes, doing a KJ session

The KJ Method — created in the 1960s by Japanese anthropologist Jiro Kawakita — helps groups quickly reach consensus on organizing and prioritizing a set of ideas or data. It’s simple, easy to do, and cost-effective. Why you should try it: A KJ session can be run in-person or online. What works best for your […]

3 Ways to Hobble Your Higher Ed Brand

A photo of graduates facing a bluebird sky

Colleges and universities typically make one of 3 mistakes with their brand: 1. They “nerf” it. In an online multiplayer game, when a weapon is too powerful sometimes the game creators will soften its impact so one player doesn’t have an unfair advantage over others. Players call it “nerfing.” A school does this when it […]

Understanding the Medium: A University Looks at Publishing on the Web

Radford University aerial view in painterly style

This is a paper that was originally published in April 1995 in the proceedings of the WebEdge conference in Austin, Texas. At the time our founder David Poteet had recently designed and built the first website for Radford University where he was still working. He left Radford to launch NewCity in August, 1995.

We’ve republished it as an interesting view of the future from the past.