NewCity

Why and How to Add Heat Mapping to Your Analytics Toolkit

Summarizing and reporting data about your website can be difficult to do in an engaging way. Data tables and complex visualizations from Google Analytics show larger trends, but don’t always communicate what users are doing on the page-level: Heatmaps can help you answer these questions. Many tools are low cost and easy to use, and […]

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.

Why “Read More” is Less Effective

Sign with the text "This office will not tolerate redundancy in this office"

Rather than creating separate fields in our CMSs for titles and link text that reference the same destination content, we make the title the link. It’s easier to write, easier to scan, and better for screen readers. A win-win-win!

What International Students Can Teach Us About the Virtual Campus Visit

International students working with laptops

It’s decision season for students starting college this year. Normally, campuses would be teeming with flocks of high school seniors and parents following peppy student tour guides. I was one of those guides, a sophomore learning to walk backwards without tripping and swapping my left for my right, as I pointed out interesting features of […]

Infinite Scroll: A Bad Idea for Usability and Accessibility

A spiraling staircase

Though a common interaction on the web, infinite scroll causes problems for accessibility, usability, and performance. The cost to work around them is usually not worth the tradeoffs, and in the end, it can have a negative impact on the user experience.