Coming Soon—An Enhanced Online Experience with Northwestern IT

We heard your feedback. This winter, Northwestern IT is reimagining how you connect to our services, information, and resources with a refreshed IT website and new IT services portal. These two new platforms are designed with users’ input at the forefront to offer improved search functionality, simplified processes, and updated information structures for a more efficient experience.

New IT Services Portal

The new IT Service Management (ITSM) Portal will replace several distinct systems, offering a single gateway and streamlined access to the IT services and support you need. In the portal, you can submit and monitor tickets for technology support, quickly find answers and self-service solutions to common questions, view and make selections from the catalog of IT services, and review current information on the status of IT services, including scheduled maintenance and unplanned outages on IT systems. All of this is soon possible using one integrated interface.

Still in the pre-launch phase, we continue collaborating with IT partners in schools and units across the University and our vendors, TeamDynamix and Atlassian, to design and develop tools and workflows to meet the various needs of the community. Other preparatory activities, such as training for key stakeholders and IT agents, will occur throughout the fall.

Refreshed IT Website

With the launch of the new IT Services Portal, the Northwestern IT website is also taking on a refreshed appearance. Last year, students, faculty, and staff provided feedback about the current website through an online survey, user testing, and in-person interviews. The results allowed us to better understand what works and what needs improving, and in partnership with the Office of Global Marketing and Communications, helped guide decisions for an updated site design.

When the site goes live this winter, visitors will notice a refreshed home page that incorporates the use of color, images, typography, and white space in alignment with accessibility and Northwestern brand standards. Updated features include:

• Prominent search — In the research phase, users were clear about their desire for a more prominent search on the home page. The new design delivers on this need, with additional sections for quickly identifying role-based (e.g., student, faculty, or staff) needs and common support questions and topics.
• Descriptive drop-down menu — Descriptions for each related link use non-technical language and an icon to guide users to the information they need.
• Enhanced newsroom — Each story is accompanied by a graphic to offer a visual clue of the news, and topics can be filtered by areas of interest.
• Status indicator for University IT Services — Prominently situated near the top of each page, visitors can quickly determine whether all systems are operational or if there is an unplanned service interruption.
• Integrated support — An updated floating Request Help button at the bottom of each page lets you quickly find contact options to get help with your technology needs, and another new section offers timely tips for using technology tools and services.

Stay up-to-date on the status of the refreshed IT website and the new IT service portal online, and follow us on Twitter at @Northwestern_IT this winter for an introduction and tips for making the most of the new platforms.