I did my first degree at Coventry University — Communication, Culture and Media — which I really enjoyed but the social aspect was a really big thing for me. I could never really understand why people would want to study alone, at a distance, in their own time. I wanted to get a feel for it all as I was designing websites for people who this kind of study appealed to. So I learned more about all the support the OU gives to students than web design. It was intriguing meeting other students online who proudly listed all the courses they’d studied in the email signatures.

The course was assessed by a number of electronic assignments and I didn’t really have interaction with the course tutor but it all rolled along nicely and I got a certificate at the end to add to my portfolio. I’ve been tempted to take a few courses in the last four years but have never got round to it. We have course materials for everything in the OU library and I’ve leafed through endless excellently produced materials just for fun. The OU lets it’s staff do courses for free. So why don’t I just crack on and do some study?

Well.. I just feel I’m too busy. I find I have little free time as it is to socialise and enjoy my new son. Oliver. Maybe when things are less hectic I’ll dive in to the veritable glittering delights.

I do have one big advantage over other people in my team though — I approach each new project from the point of view of someone who is new to OU study, rather than a seasoned OU pro. So for my latest project — Student Induction and Orientation — I’m forced to do some proper research (focus groups, user testing) with Students to find out what both new undergraduates and new postgraduates need when they are wondering what the OU is all about.

So maybe you have considered studying with the OU. What has stopped you so far? And maybe you have recently begun studying with the OU? What would have made it easier for you to get started? What support and advice would you have wanted to receive that you didn’t get? I’m very keen to hear.

The OU science faculty have a brand new website courtesy of Green Cathedral.

Employee development

The Open University (OU) and the OU Business School work with thousands of organisations to promote professional and management skills that deliver business results. With its range of business, management and vocational courses and renowned flexible learning methods, the OU is ideally placed to suit your corporate or personal training needs.

The OU works with employers through an action-oriented, needs-responsive team of Corporate Development Managers (CDMs) who seek to provide cost effective and results driven business solutions.

Even the OU can do business speak! It’s a win-win situation!

OUBS France

The OU Business School is a faculty of one of the world’s largest universities – the UK-based Open University. The Open University has pioneered and popularised blended learning throughout the world. For the international management executive, the flexibility and quality of our courses and our support systems are crucial to personal success.

Our unique method of blended learning – a mix of texts, DVDs, online working, residential schools and personal tutorial support – is renowned as the best available. Courses are taught in English, the international business language.

The French website is one of many international OUBS sites designed by Green Cathedral.

Research at the OU

Same old stock images but the layout is nice (fantastic grid design). Some bad usability going on here though. On the research highlights page there are a bunch of things that look like links when they aren’t (at least in Firefox). The Back to top link has an arrow facing downwards which is very odd.

New to the OU

The ‘Get instant answers’ feature is very useful and gives a nice personal touch. The prescribed 1-5 ordering of things to look at on the homepage is interesting. The subpages have less of a design and fall into the same design trap as Courses and Qualifications and other early new brand designs. As with most new OU websites, the text is a tad small for the majority of users (especially the navigation systems).

You, Five, Career or University

Youthful, playful, attractive design. Graphics arn’t very well optimised though which is particularly evident on the main homepage image where there is significant amounts of blurring around the people and “What are your study options” typography. That aside, there are some nice features in here: rollovers on the 01, 02, 03 (but what do the ‘option >>’ labels mean?

The URL of this site is open.ac.uk/five but it’s not apparent why this is the case. There are only three Herbie numbers on the homepage, not five. What exactly is the title of this site – I can count at least three potential candidates.

Seen any cool new brand designs?