Case study

Rewards and Recognition Program, President’s Office

Client: MIT Office of the President

Services: visual design, development (Drupal Cloud), client training, project management

The existing Rewards and Recognition website was more than ten years old and built using outdated techniques. The design was not compliant with current MIT graphic identity standards and not usable on mobile devices.

The initial instance of the Rewards and Recognition Program, rolled out in 2001, only included administrative groups under the President’s Office. The Program’s success lead to many other MIT administrative groups creating their programs, leading to confusion regarding which staff were eligible for which program.

The new site’s title was adjusted to make it clear that this was the President’s Office Rewards and Recognition Program. The administrative units to which the Program extended were now spelled out in the header.

The visual element originally consisted of a caricature of MIT’s “Tim the Beaver” in various cartoon poses. This was a strategy relevant in 2001 to give a more informal and friendly tone to the program. Through the many outreach programs initiated by the President’s Office since then, and the personalization of the Office through social media, this approach seemed dated and solicitous in 2017. A more contemporary design using graphics and a reloading slide show of recent award recipients made the site seem more current.