Improving OLS Website Accessibility & User Experience

[NPDebs]

OLS is evaluating how accessible and user-friendly our website is (#846, #953, #958). We want to make it easier for visitors to find relevant content, engage with the community, and contribute meaningfully.

To do this, we are developing personas that reflect the needs of different users, starting with alumni like Dr. Amina Okoro, who want to stay engaged after their cohort. We’d love your feedback!

🔹 Does this persona capture real alumni experiences?
🔹 Are there other needs or challenges we should consider?
🔹 How can we improve the site to support alumni engagement better?

Please take a few minutes to read the persona and share your feedback here. Your input will help us improve how OLS serves its community! 🚀

[LauraCarter]

I think the persona looks good and you've accurately identified pain points. I'd add another: lack of clarity about how much OLS alumni are expected/allowed to continue to engage with spaces like the Slack after they graduate from their cohort. I try to encourage my mentees to stick around, but I worry that they feel like they're intruding!

On the solutions:

• Making the alumni engagement page more obvious (I didn't know there was one!) would be great, as would a specific guide on how to contribute blog pieces.
• I like the idea of an alumni spotlight series: perhaps following up with people 3-6 months after they graduate to see what they're up to and how they're using what they learned in OLS?
• I also like the idea of an alumni channel that we add people to once they've graduated (while making it clear that they can also post in the other channels!) - this could also be a place to cross-promote co-working sessions, to make it clear that alums can join those as well.

[SaraVilla]

I agree the persona looks like a good representation of alumni (at least I do feel very identified with it!)
Not sure if maybe this is off-topic, but another interested persona is a potential OLS participant! Another potential persona could be an alumni who's engaged in only a specific part of the OLS part during the programme (let's say, they focused on FAIR data during the programme) and now they want to develop further other sills (like CM, or PM...) what other add-on training or paths can we offer to them? (posted also in #958)

While I think training pages are quite well organised and described, maybe a bit more info or a 'how to' block of pages might be useful?

(I also added some further comments in the google doc, let me know if anything is unclear, happy to chat further :) )

[NPDebs]

Thanks so much, both of you, for this really thoughtful and helpful feedback!

@LauraCarter - That’s such a good point about the ambiguity around continued engagement on Slack post-cohort. (By the way, thanks for encouraging your mentees to stick around!) It’s clear that we need to make it more explicit that they’re welcome—and not just allowed, but encouraged—to remain active. Maybe this is something that can be addressed by the dedicated alumni channel, and the 3–6 months post-programme check-ins, as you mentioned. We can use both to spotlight their journeys and keep the connection alive, in a way that makes everyone feel "at home." This has given me so much to think about, Laura, and I can't thank you enough! 💜

@SaraVilla - I'm genuinely so glad the persona resonated with you! And thank you for raising the idea of expanding beyond alumni to potential participants and alumni with focused interests who want to build out new skills. That’s actually a good idea for the next persona we'll create: a potential applicant who's curious about whether OLS is right for them. 💡 We can try to merge the alumni persona into that of a focused alumnus who wants to grow in a different direction post-cohort. I definitely see a lot of value in exploring additional personas.

Also love the idea of more "how-to" content blocks on the site—even quick guides or decision trees could be great. By the way, I appreciate the extra comments you left in the doc too, and your feedback has been implemented! ❤️

I'll keep the community updated as we refine this persona and/or create more. Thanks again!