When UPF-BSM approached us, their website faced critical challenges: outdated infrastructure, poor performance, and limited scalability. Core Web Vitals metrics were far below acceptable levels, with a Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) exceeding 10 seconds on mobile and numerous usability issues impacting both user experience and SEO performance.
The objective was clear: redesign the digital ecosystem to improve performance, accessibility, and operational efficiency while ensuring the platform could scale with the institution's growth.
Our intervention began with an extensive refactoring of the front-end codebase. We implemented industry-standard coding practices to improve maintainability and ensure compliance with WCAG accessibility standards.
This included restructuring the DOM to reduce the number of elements to fewer than 1,000, optimizing the architecture for faster rendering and load performance. Every component was built to prioritize efficiency, reliability, and future scalability, setting a solid foundation for the platform's growth.
To address the complexity of UPF-BSM's content management, we unified three separate Drupal instances - used for faculty, course management, and news - into a single CMS. This consolidation not only simplified content workflows but also created a unified source of truth for the website.
Custom content types were developed to accommodate diverse use cases, making it easier for administrators to manage updates and maintain consistency across all sections of the platform.
On the back end, we integrated Redis as an in-memory caching solution, drastically reducing load times by eliminating direct CMS queries. Nightly synchronization ensured cached data stayed up-to-date without sacrificing speed.
Additionally, we restructured key SEO elements, including meta tags, headers, and alt attributes, boosting search engine rankings. These efforts significantly improved the website's visibility and discoverability.
When we first analyzed UPF-BSM's digital platform, it was clear that users faced significant challenges. Slow loading times, unstable visuals, and frustrating interactions led to disengagement. To address this, we tackled key performance issues, starting with Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). Mobile load times dropped from 10.6 seconds to 4.1 seconds, and desktop load times improved to an impressive 0.9 seconds, ensuring students could access resources instantly.
We also stabilized Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), reducing it to below 0.1 to eliminate disruptive page shifts that broke trust. Finally, we optimized overall Page Speed, reducing load times from 6.88 seconds in November 2022 to just 2.4 seconds by October 2024. These improvements transformed the platform into a fast, stable, and user-friendly experience, enhancing user engagement, trust, and alignment with UPF-BSM's standards of excellence.
By resolving long-standing technical issues, improving back-end performance, and optimizing front-end architecture, we successfully transformed UPF-BSM's web platform into a high-performing, scalable system.
The website is now not only faster and more accessible but also strategically aligned with the institution's goals, making it a benchmark for academic digital transformation.
Through a combination of streamlined content management, robust back-end enhancements, and a responsive, user-centric design, the UPF Business School of Management website is now primed for scalability and future growth.
The improvements have not only boosted performance but also ensured that the site remains accessible, efficient, and aligned with the institution's goals of academic excellence. These changes lay a solid foundation for continued success in the digital space.