How to deliver a consistent content strategy across complex and sprawling institutions

David Eccles & James Moore

Founding Partner, Numiko & Head of Digital, University of London

Great content is like a seed – it needs the right environment to thrive. Other speakers will talk about creating engaging and effective content. That’s the seed. We’re here to talk about the dirt – the medium in which your content thrives or dies.

We’ll cover: 

  • How to consolidate your university’s sprawling digital estate to create consistency.

  • James Moore, Head of Digital at the University of London can speak to this challenge directly. He’ll lay out how the University of London solved it with a design that helps to tie together the disparate parts of their large and complex digital estate.

  • We’ll show how to develop information architectures that meet users’ needs, and how you can use data and research to successfully get buy-in from stakeholders to build the case for change.

  • We’ll look at how content modelling informed by great user research can create a strong framework for content teams to work with to create great digital experiences.

  • We’ll explore how to successfully balance the competing need for flexibility (to allow distinctive entities with sub-brands) and consistency (to give users a sense of a single coherent organisation). We’ll share insights from a relevant design project with Oxford University to show how to get the balance right.

Key takeaways

  • Understand the ‘bigger picture’ that content fits into, and how to develop effective information architecture and content models.

  • Learn how to deliver more effective content strategies across complex digital estates, and how to balance flexibility and consistency to deliver a great user experience.

  • Learn strategies for successfully engaging stakeholders to get buy-in on delivering information architectures based on the needs of users, not the needs of the organisation.

About your speakers

David Eccles (He/him) is a founding partner of Numiko, and over the course of twenty years he has played an instrumental role in growing Numiko from a graduate start-up into a multi-award-winning digital agency working with many world-leading purpose driven institutions, from the British Museum to the University of Oxford. 

David has led the simplification of many UK university’s digital estates, including the Univeristy of London, and always seeks to reduce complexity to get better outcomes for users. 

David is also a keen amature DJ, so please don’t ask him about his techno set because then he won’t stop talking about it.


James Moore (He/him) is the Head of Digital at the University of London, where he has worked since 2018. James has worked in “digital” since 2000 holding positions at Imperial College London, ICAEW and the Royal College of Surgeons.

He currently leads a team of 7 which oversees the digital (web) strategy for the “shop window” websites for the university. The team supports on these website projects, as well as technical aspects/development and content governance – including training and skills development for the range of website content editors and owners across the University.

James has been leading on a long-term ambition at the University to “centralise” websites into a single platform to improve content management, user experience, hosting support and improve standards.

In his spare time, James likes spend time with his family and dog, Hudson, going on long country walks, and undertaking a range of DIY projects at home.

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