CollegeHumor Site Redesign

Roles: Art Director, Designer

Company: CollegeHumor

Skills: User Interface Design, User Experience Design, Brand Development, Product Development

CollegeHumor’s website was in need of an overhaul. Advertising partners wanted to feel like the site was fresh and current, and wanted new offerings for display ads and branded content hubs. Users wanted a better experience for consuming content and a less intrusive ad experience. By reducing the number of ads per page, and increasing the viewability score of display ads, users and advertisers alike were accommodated. A fresh design took in to account how users were arriving at and using our site.

Improved Video Watching Experience

CollegeHumor has an enormous multi-million subscriber base on YouTube. However, the video watching experience on the site was constrained to embedded video in blog posts. I designed an entirely new video watching experience on the site for viewers who chose to watch there, and for sponsors who wanted a more customizable experience than we could offer on YouTube.

Improved Reading Experience

CollegeHumor’s strongest performing content had become comics and illustrated lists. Due to the optimization standards of the library and limited development resources, the width of the content column remained fixed. However, with the introduction of a continuous reading experience, the placement of a fixed title, and improved ad placements, the experience became easier to consume, and led to increased times spent on the site. Priority was placed on ad viewability as opposed to impressions, leading to a favorable response from users and sponsors alike.

Improved Homepage Experience

The popularity of CollegeHumor’s Facebook and other social media accounts shifted the way visitors arrived at the site. The homepage became less of a functional priority for our users, while remaining an important place to express our offerings. Advertising partners expected homepage placement as part of any premium sponsorship, and expressed a desire to see a homepage that felt more current.

I redesigned the homepage from one that prioritized surfacing the most recent content to one which placed greater emphasis on our talent and franchises.

Improved layout and wayfinding for formats and verticals

I designed the site to take better advantage of our taxonomy, surfacing franchises, talent, and topics in a more deliberate fashion. While benefiting users, this also allowed for improved sponsorability of those verticals.

Standardization and Improved Sponsorability of Topics

New layouts allowed for larger and better integration of sponsor branding in partnered hubs. More emphasis on topics created more opportunities for sponsors to own collections of content.

Updated Design, Illustration Style

An updated illustration style gave the site a better point of view while making everything feel more cohesive and current.