New Virtual Tour Breaks the Mold

Countdown to the launch of You Are Here!

Before redesigning and relaunching Wellesley's website last spring, the Web content team interviewed many students about what they sought in a college website. Knowing Wellesley’s once-modern but now creaky virtual tour would need replacing, the team wanted to know which college virtual tours students liked or found memorable. “Huh?” was the usual reply. It turns out that students universally dismissed virtual tours as “boring and dumb.”

Wellesley adapted to this feedback, creating You Are Here, and so reimagined the virtual tour. Instead of the ubiquitous map-driven, location-based slideshow with highly scripted descriptions of buildings and what happens in them, You Are Here explores Wellesley through the activities and circumstances of most interest to prospective students. You Are Here puts the virtual back in virtual tour: giving users an exquisite taste of what it’s like to be a student at Wellesley—the choices, opportunities, everyday moments, and quirky distinguishing features (including people) that make it different from anywhere else.

You Are Here also incorporates some surprises, and offers a real window onto Wellesley. Tune in here, or come by the Science Center Focus, at 12:25 on October 18, for the unveiling of this new site!

Update: We are now live! Visit You Are Here.