Department of Linguistics, University of Rochester
On the department's website, the research section was intended to showcase faculty's and student's research in linguistics. The original “Research Overview” page was weighed down by dense blocks of text, making important cultural and linguistic work feel nonexistent or inaccessible. I reimagined the page as a dynamic experience, a space where discovery feels personal, research comes alive, and stories connect across borders.
The starting point
The page was dense, outdated, and a pain to navigate. Students shared that they wanted to learn more about the department’s research labs, but the information was buried in side links, and even then, not all labs were listed. The subfield descriptions hadn’t been updated in over a decade, and the page lacked any visuals or structure to guide engagement. Important, exciting work was nonexistent.
The department set out to reimagine its digital presence with a bold, forward-thinking vision. Their goals were clear: increase engagement with current students and faculty, attract top-tier graduate applicants and researchers, and raise the department’s profile to compete with peer institutions. Ultimately, the department aimed to show prospective students, collaborators, and donors why linguistics matters and why Rochester is the place to study it.
I independently executed the redesign from end to end, conducting user research, auditing existing content, identifying structural gaps, and building a new content architecture. I designed the new layout to align with the university’s branding, prioritizing hierarchy and storytelling throughout.
The redesigned research section has quickly become the department’s flagship showcase, guiding prospective students straight to active labs and their work. Faculty now feature it in admissions presentations and alumni communications to illustrate Rochester’s vibrant, interdisciplinary research community. By turning dense text into an engaging, story-driven experience, the page has elevated the department’s profile and set a new standard for how they share their research.