Liverpool John Moores University

Case Study

Transforming the Student Experience: LJMU’s Digital Evolution

LJMU is a public research university in Liverpool, founded in 1823 as the Liverpool Mechanics’ School of Arts. With a strong commitment to student experience, LJMU blends academic excellence with digital innovation to support over 25,000 students across a wide range of disciplines.

Objective

LJMU aimed to deliver a best-in-class digital experience for prospective and current students. Their goals included improving course search functionality, enabling academic departments to manage content, and ensuring a fast, accessible, and mobile-friendly website.

Solution

We partnered with LJMU to deliver a device-agnostic UX and design overhaul, underpinned by user research and usability testing. Key improvements included:

  • A dynamic course search tool with keyword and subject filtering
    A–Z listings, and wish-list functionality
  • Faculty-managed news modules for academic pages
  • A full Sitecore upgrade from v7.2 to v10.1, migrating from on-premise to Azure Kubernetes (K8s) for scalable, resilient infrastructure
  • Solr search was migrated to SearchStax’s managed cloud service for enhanced performance and compliance.

Results

“A faster, smarter, student-first experience.”

  • Search results now return in under 1 second
  • 671% increase in course search usage
  • Fully responsive design improved mobile engagement
  • Faculty empowered to manage and publish content independently
  • Seamless migration to scalable cloud infrastructure

Ready to elevate your digital transformation?