Beginning in early January 2006, users of the NCAA Web site will notice enhancements designed to assist users in quickly and efficiently accessing information that is most relevant to them. The changes will be unveiled in the days leading up to the 2006 Convention in Indianapolis.

While the actual navigation of the site will remain the same -- content that users are accustomed to finding in certain spots will remain there, and navigational headings will not change -- the home page of www.ncaa.
org will have a different look, with an added ability for users to customize their home page with links and information relevant to them. The changes will feature an expanded news menu, a site updates section, a calendar and the ability to customize a list of links.

In the "My Links" section, users will be able to select a set of favorite links to Web pages that they visit regularly. The list will appear on nearly every page of the site, allowing users easy access to content they visit most. Links can be added and removed at any time.

The news section will include links to breaking news stories, press releases and articles from The NCAA News. This section will initially display Association-wide news and information from the division of the user's choice, with news from other divisions always one click away.

The site-updates portion will display links to newly posted content that is not in the news section -- new publications, memos or legislative documents. This section also can be customized to a user's division, and updates from other divisions still will be readily accessible.

A calendar box also will be added. It will list upcoming NCAA committee meetings and important deadlines.

Accessing the new customization options will require users to create an account on www.ncaa.org. Users who don't create an account still will have access to the entire site, but the "MyLinks" list will instead feature a few of the most popular pages on the site.

Creating an account will not require any sensitive information and will not take a lot of time. Users will need to create a user name and password. The log-in box will appear on the right side of the screen on almost all pages on the site.

Officials report that the site's search engine also will be improved.

According to Gregg Summers, manager of the Web site, the changes will make the site more usable for those who visit the site regularly and have certain pages they access often.

"Research we have conducted over the past two years particularly mentioned that people appreciate the large volume of content, but because of (the volume), it's often difficult to find the material they want," he said. "Many of the site's users have a core set of content that they review sometimes on a daily basis."

The new features are the next step in a long-range project that began with the launch of the redesigned NCAA Web site in September 2004. That redesign was based on research done by WilliamsRandall, an Indiana-based marketing communications firm. From that time, the developers knew they wanted to explore customization, but because of the amount of work involved in the initial redesign, the planning for personalization didn't begin until after the September 2004 launch.

At that point, more research was conducted both among users and staff to determine both the customization angle and the staff's comfort level with the tools used to build Web pages. Research among users indicated less confusion than originally anticipated, especially because the changes were quite significant. In general, users were pleased with the redesign but had trouble finding content.

Implementation of the ideas gleaned from the research first began in March, and the project has continued since then. The NCAA is again working with IBM to do the enhancements. IBM was chosen to do the original redesign after a standard request-for-proposal process that identified the company as the best fit for the Association. IBM has extensive experience with large-scale Web sites and an array of different services in its repertoire.

Summers said the enhancements are just the first of many the staff hopes to make in the coming years. The new software allows a high level of personalization, and Summers said some of those features likely will be implemented in the future.

The evolution of the Web site is an ongoing project without an end date -- officials will continue to update the site to stay current with users.

"We want to do research on an ongoing basis," Summers said. "Our goal is to do standing, repeatable research on usability, likes and dislikes, and user satisfaction every several months and more comprehensive research every few years."

The research will indicate in what direction users would like to see the Web site go in the future.