Large organisations serving multiple audiences often struggle with the same challenge: too much content, too many needs, and users who cannot find what they are looking for. Maastricht University was no different. Prospective students exploring programmes, current students planning their PhD journey, job seekers discovering opportunities: all landing on the same corporate website. The university asked iO to help transform their digital experience so every stakeholder finds the right information at the right moment.
Multi-stakeholder website optimisation for diverse audiences
Simplified navigation: from 7 menu items to 4
Content restructured and rewritten in Dutch and English
New design for homepage, main and sub landing pages
600 pages optimised through blended UX, UI and content expertise
Migration to new design in Drupal
The challenge
How do you ensure that prospective students, current students and potential employees all find what they need on a single corporate website? And how do you spark their interest to explore further?
The solution
Together, we optimised the multi-stakeholder platform: new navigation that reduces complexity, a fresh design for key pages, restructured and rewritten content in two languages, and a seamless migration to ensure everything works from day one.
A blended approach for the best results
Maastricht University (UM) is the European university of the Netherlands. Students and staff from around the world and across disciplines come together here, drawn by the university's unique Problem-Based Learning approach to build the world of tomorrow.
From day one, we worked with UM as genuine partners, with shared ownership and open collaboration at every stage. Our blended team worked side by side with UM's internal stakeholders, in a working relationship built on trust, transparency and complementary expertise.
Navigation simplified for the ultimate multi-stakeholder website
A good website starts with clear navigation. But when you serve prospective students looking for programmes, current students seeking PhD information, and job seekers exploring careers, how do you structure a menu that works for everyone?
Our UX and UI experts analysed user journeys and identified where visitors got lost. The result: we reduced the main menu from 7 items to 4. By restructuring the underlying content architecture, information became much easier to find. Users no longer need to guess where to click: the navigation guides them intuitively to what they need.
A fresh look for key pages
Simplified navigation alone is not enough. Visitors also need visual cues that help them understand page structure and encourage them to explore further.
Our UX and UI experts carried out a full redesign of key pages. The goal was twofold: a clear structure and a visually attractive layout that invites visitors to stay and click through. The new design creates a consistent experience across all touchpoints, reinforcing the university's brand while improving usability.
Content rewritten for clarity in two languages
With new navigation and design in place, the content needed to match. Much of the existing copy was outdated, inconsistent or written for internal audiences rather than external visitors.
Our content specialists worked closely with UM's content managers to restructure and rewrite a large part of the website content. Every page was reviewed for clarity, relevance and tone of voice. The result: optimised copy in both Dutch and English that speaks directly to each target group, whether a prospective student from Germany or a researcher considering a career move.
From strategy to CMS: building 600 pages in Drupal
Content optimisation means nothing if it does not go live. Our content managers built hundreds of pages in Drupal, UM's preferred CMS, according to the new design and placed all optimised and new content within them. Hundreds more were migrated directly to the new templates.
Throughout the build phase, our content managers worked alongside Drupal developers from the university. This flexible collaboration meant we could switch quickly where needed, maintaining momentum and ensuring everything was ready for launch on time.
We are very satisfied with iO's support, professionalism and expertise. The flexibility, the strategy, the hard work and the inexhaustible energy were worth their weight in gold in this project. We are very proud of the end result.
The numbers
1
Pages optimised by content specialists and managers
7 →1
Menu items reduced for clearer navigation
1
Languages: all content rewritten in Dutch and English
An optimised multi-stakeholder experience that works for everyone
Around 600 pages were tackled by our content specialists and managers, the website has an entirely new navigation structure, and the most important pages have a new design.
The result is a website where every visitor quickly finds what they need, whether they are a prospective student comparing programmes, a current student mapping out their PhD journey, or a professional considering a career at UM.
The reactions from UM were unanimously positive. We celebrated the success of this optimisation together as one team, with colleagues from both UM and iO. We are proud of what we achieved together and look forward to the projects ahead.
What we did
Copywriting and web editing
UX & UI design
Content management
