Helsinki University
Partnership means advice, solving problems and implementing great services
We started as a strategic technology partner for the University of Helsinki in 2013. Our successful cooperation sprang to action with a website renewal, after our proof-of-concept demo convinced the client about Drupal and its flexibility. We’ve worked from the beginning as a team with client-side colleagues and this has made things uncomplicated and effective.
The university’s website is a massive entity with over 30,000 pages, more than 40 million annual page visits and with numerous different target groups. With a proactive and solutions-oriented attitude, we have developed the portfolio of sites and services to better meet the strategic needs of the university. We’ve had our hand in ideation, development and maintenance.
The collaboration has spawned not only more functional digital solutions, but also more efficient operating models. We’ve also introduced agile best practices through our projects.
What we have done
Our projects
Helsinki.fi site renewal
Refreshing this vast website to be responsive and accessible was our first task for Helsinki University in 2013. It’s an ongoing development project and we work proactively to keep improving the site to make it more and more user-friendly. February 2021 was another time for a major overhaul as we upgraded the platform from Drupal 7 to 9.
Research and faculty sites
To ease the work of the university’s research groups and faculties, we built a website engine with Drupal. The engine helps them quickly and easily create visually consistent mini-sites under a common platform.
Design system
We built a design system that provides a library of reusable web components to ensure a consistent look and feel across the university’s web development projects. The design system replaced the style guide we had created earlier.
Search services
The university wanted to centralize its various portals and search services under the helsinki.fi website. We built services for Degree Program Search, People Finder and the Unitube Video Service, and all services can be found from a central location. It’s convenient for users and enhances the visibility of the university’s digital branding. People Finder has a React.js based search integrated with a microservice.
“When we work with Druid developers it feels like we are a truly cohesive team with the same goal – to find the best solutions and implementations for the needs of the university and our users. Our long-term partnership has helped us understand our complex organization and anticipate risks. Druid is a reliable supplier and the cooperation with them is always smooth and flexible. They are always ready to continuously develop their processes and skills for the best interests of their clients.”
Paula Durston, Project Manager in Digital Communication, Product Owner of helsinki.fi
Other projects
A survey application for students to map their career planning strengths and skills (Vue.js)
The Wizard function for research data services, that maps suitable services for research data management (Drupal)
The Tietoset online magazine for the University Information Technology Center’s internal communications
Technology consulting on various topics, such as server environment renewal, server management, systems utilization and compatibility
Helsinki Brain & Mind research portal (Drupal and Vue.js), where you can search for information on more than 300 research groups/researchers, either by browsing or with various search functions, such as keywords, by organization or the researcher’s name. We also implemented a tool to manage the keywords.
Helsinki Brain & Mind is a neuroscience hub comprising the University of Helsinki, Aalto University and Helsinki University Hospital (HUS), which promotes research and business collaboration in neuroscience as well as new innovations. An easy-to-use and accessible research directory is an integral part of the project’s website under construction and will increase the visibility of neuroscience research in the area.
Results
Results, in numbers
Top grade
Helsinki.fi user feedback
4/5
Content feeders rating to the admin interface
83/100
Degree Program search NPS value (Net Promoter Score)
The development of online services was linked to the university’s goal of improving its position in university rankings. Results showed that the development work supported the discoverability of services and the style was appealing to the target group.
Centralizing the online presence of the helsinki.fi website was also an important part of the visual renewal of the University of Helsinki. The University of Helsinki is rated in the top 10 online brands out of around 20,000 universities globally.
More about the project
Mikko Hämäläinen
CEO
+358 20 187 6603
