As first-time attendees, we were unsure what a Digital Collegium event would have in store for us. Despite that uncertainty, we were excited to attend the 2026 regional conference hosted by our institution, the University of Minnesota.
Despite travel setbacks for both of us (a flat tire and “construction season”) we arrived sufficiently early to grab a coffee, settle in and connect with some familiar, and less familiar, faces.
Strong from the start
A conference highlight came right at the beginning with the keynote presented by Melanie Lindahl, senior user experience (UX) designer, researcher and project manager at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. As we work on the University of Minnesota Law School web team, we were especially excited for this presentation. We were well aware of UT Austin’s law site, which we considered a best-practice example for higher-ed sites.
The presentation did not disappoint. Melanie’s keynote addressed many user-experience challenges faced by higher education. As she shared, while the commercial web industry commonly views UX as a focal point, higher education often delegates the practice to secondary — or even tertiary — consideration.
It’s common for higher education websites to provide content and a user experience tilted more toward internal audiences than prospective students. Input from faculty and staff is often readily available; quantifying what prospective students are looking for can be much more challenging.
Melanie walked through her approach to making sites more student-centered, including a specific example of crafting navigation geared toward students by making it less “Office” or “Department” based. While “Admissions” is a common menu item, shifting the name to “Prospective Students” offers more audience-centered appeal.
Community connections
The keynote was just what was needed for the first session of the day. It was full of information, energy and enthusiasm. Even better, we were fortunate to be able to connect with Melanie after the session. This experience often isn’t possible at larger conferences, but she was approachable and generous with her time. We were able to compare notes and discuss common approaches and challenges.
Overall, the Digital Collegium 2026 Minnesota Regional Conference exceeded our expectations. The quality of the sessions, networking opportunities and connections were invaluable. We would certainly attend future events.
