University of Latvia to enter its centenary with a new internet portal

The Rector of the UL, Professor Indriķis Muižnieks is assured that the new portal will be a contemporary platform for communication and information exchange uniting the UL staff. Current and future students, graduates and patrons, as well as the cooperation partners in Latvia and abroad. “On September 28 the portal will open its virtual entrance for the users and lead them into the diverse activities of the University life – the most current pursuits of science and research, studies, governance processes, the news of sports and culture. Just like Riga, the portal will never be complete, it will evolve and grow in step with the University as a result of our shared work,” said I. Muižnieks.   The UL Deputy Rector for Digital Society Matters, Professor Signe Bāliņa acknowledged the accomplishments of all those involved in development of the new portal: "The new UL portal is a result of extensive work involving studies and analysis to increase the user-friendliness of the webpage. I would like extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to everyone who invested their knowledge and work in this project. The UL will present itself in the digital environment as a modern and progressive university that uses contemporary technologies and opportunities presented by the digital age to be closer to its employees, students, partners and society." The design and development of the new portal is based on a user-centred approach, supported by large-scale user experience studies, says its information architect Liene Viļuma: "We selected the potential students as the most important group of users. The students from the UL Faculty of Social Sciences were also involved in research and design phase, they studied the information-seeking habits of young people – the future students, as well as their opinions of the current portal of the University of Latvia and their expectations thereof. Users tested the usability of the new portal in various stages of its development." Working on portal design, along with considering the contemporary habits of Internet use, its creators also forecasted the possible changes in users' habits in the near and more distant future. Website development has taken into account all the current trends – compatibility with different devices (computers, tablets, smartphones), intuitive and easy use, and prevailing of visual material over large amounts of text. A number of content improvements have also been introduced. Importantly, the development of the new UL portal has been implemented with internal resources, the skills and knowledge of the UL employees, in close cooperation between the Information Technology Department and the Department of Communication and Innovation. The transition to the new UL homepage will take place at the midnight before September 28. However, the work on further elaboration of the portal will continue and the content will be supplemented. We invite you to share your opinion and suggestions by emailing them to lumajaslapa@lu.lv.