Summary
Scroll produced 11 ‘how-to’ guides for staff on a range of teaching topics, to be hosted on UCL’s Teaching & Learning Portal.
The challenges
UCL recognised that there were several gaps in the practical information it provided, particularly for new teaching staff, on several important aspects of teaching. UCL’s brief to Scroll was to create a series of guides on key topics.
Each guide should explain clearly, in plain English and in a step-by-step way, how colleagues can put each topic into practice. Each guide should be a downloadable PDF, ideally about four pages long, containing plenty of white space and bullet points, and have an uncluttered look. There should be an introduction to each topic that summarises what the topic is about in two or three sentences. This could then be used as the strapline for hosting the guides on the Teaching & Learning Portal.
The solution
Scroll supplied a copywriter, designer and project manager to produce all of the guides. We produced the first two guides as a ‘pilot’. Then, once UCL confirmed they were happy with our approach, we proceeded with the remaining nine.
For each guide, UCL identified and briefed one or two subject matter experts, who were asked to provide some initial notes to the copywriter about the topic. The copywriter then conducted individual, face-to-face interviews with each curator about the content their guide should contain.
The copywriter wrote a first draft, which went through Scroll’s own internal checking process before being sent to the curator(s) for comment. The copywriter then liaised directly with the curators to agree on the text.
This draft was then shared with the Head of Communications from UCL’s Office of the Vice-Provost, ensuring that she had oversight of all 11 guides before they went to the design stage. Any additional changes that she suggested were agreed with the relevant curator(s).
The designer then used this text to create the PDF version. The design was consistent for all guides, but with enough flexibility to cater for each guide’s individual content.
Results
- UCL was able to add new, useful and attractive resources to its website that had been approved and quality-checked by all relevant parties
- Each guide met the brief of being clear, jargon-free and practical, so that teaching staff can get what they need fast and easily
- UCL is able to easily edit the guides in the future, and use Scroll’s blank template to add more guides themselves
What the client said
Scroll has been a delight to work with and has produced a high-quality product we are very happy with. I would strongly recommend Scroll and hope to work with them again.
Jess Shepherd, Head of Communications (Education and Student Affairs), UCL
