Design Theory Behind Digital University Rebrand

The changes to Digital University (DU) were more than just updating a logo and some of the website. The rebrand and redesign were carefully planned and tested over time to make sure we are delivering a best in class user experience. We will walk you through the thinking behind the changes and how those translated to the final product of DU that was recently released.

Colors

We always knew we wanted to present a message through our brand that DU wants to be for everyone. When we looked at colors for the brand, we understood that purple was a color that represented all members of the DoD. During our explorations of just the brand feel, we looked at the brand language used by the BESPIN Software Factory and were able to repurpose what they’ve already established and use it for DU. The new brand is all about showing that DU wants to work and be used by all members of the Department of Defense. What’s special about our approach is that through the creation of the brand we’re able to pay homage to the BESPIN Air Force Software Factory where DU was born, celebrate the DoD and the Unified Forces, while making clear that DU is a modern brand meant to help develop a modern warfighter.

Training Front and Center

Early in the design process, some of our initial wireframes were focused around making the management of a learner’s training easier. When we first kicked around how DU would work, there was lots of inspiration from the world of gaming. You can begin to see remnants of that gaming callback in our badges and our training plans. For the new branding work, we also looked at ways to create a centralized command center of training that a learner could quickly view and make a decision with. Our new Command Center landing page makes sure that training is truly front and center for users. Similar to a game system landing page showcasing all your options, we wanted to make sure our command center could help users quickly launch the training they want or curate the list of active training they want to do at the present moment.

Integrating Assessments

The assessment integration in the site now is just our first step at providing ways for learners to test their knowledge and certify that they have the skills necessary for the pathways important and essential to the modern Defense Department. As we expand assessments, we’re planning to integrate them into our training plans, tie them to our gamification, and serve as the basis for further training recommendations from across the platform.

The Process of Rebranding

The DU rebrand is a process that has been well over a year in the making. Starting with conversations about “What is Digital University?”, “What do our learners care about?”, and “Where do we want to see this platform go?”, we wanted to make sure we approached this rebrand in a way that made these three questions front and center. We brought in game designers to help us think about how gamification can play a part in interactive and engaging user experiences. We brought in visual designers to help us imagine what a modern brand could look like. We wanted to make sure that we thought about the brand not as “a government entity” but as any brand that people care about and want to continue to use.

As we established the brand guidelines, we began to incorporate elements of the BESPIN software factory to make sure we could connect DU to its roots. From the color system we used to elements of the user interface we wanted to make sure that as we evolved the brand, we continued to pay homage and remain connected to our Air Force history.

Once we had our new UI system developed based on the brand guidelines, we began the process of building this site. We wanted to make sure that this was not just “switching colors here and there.” We were very intentional about how the branding was applied to the site so that we gave learners a truly new experience. We understand that at the end of the day this should be about our learners.

What’s Next

With the new branding rolled out, we’re going to continue to evolve the Student Portal website. More gamification, deep integration of assessments, and easier ways to get to the training you want. We’re excited about the direction that DU is going and we hope our learners are too.

If you would like to get involved with Digital University check out the links below.

Click the link to signup individually here: Digital University

Click the link to fill out a survey for your organization: Survey