Why and how we grouped subjects

Why did we group subjects?

• User research shows that when selecting what to study our customers had question that our current subject pages were not answers (and are not well positioned to answer).
  • This includes general information on what you would do if working in careers based on this subject.
  • A topic (a working title for now) is a group of subjects related around an employment pathway/career. 
• We have too many subjects to promote effectively, in that efforts to promote one can undermine the efforts to promote another.
• While search can accurately find a subject from a large number, navigation benefits from a taxonomy or grouping.

How did we group subjects?

• The primary influencer in the grouping was that it had to make sense to senior secondary school students, as they are our main audience.
• Within this, our objectives were:
  • Fewer topics than subjects
  • One subject for each major (on the programme page)
  • Same grouping approach works for PG as for UG, although no decisions have yet been made on the design or visual treatment of PG subjects
  • A subject can be in more than one topic, but better to minimise the duplication until we have the evidence
  • Topics can themselves be grouped in to mega-areas (again, a working title)
  • A mega-area can have a "floating" subject, meaning one that does not naturally fall in to any topic grouping