THE SANGGUNIAN, in partnership with the User Experience Society (UX Soceity), officially launched the  Gazette Website last February 23. According to Sanggunian Deputy for Transparency Allyana Dee, the website will streamline Sanggunian’s processes for all of its units.

The website will include separate pages for all Sanggunian services such as Sabihin sa Sanggu (SSS), which serves as their main platform for concerns, and the Freedom of Information Application Form, which will allow students to request for access to specific documents. Previous memorandums and resolutions will also be made readily accessible online. 

The main purpose of the Gazette Website is to create a centralized go-to platform for students to access pertinent documents and direct their concerns. Over time, the Sanggunian aims to shift most of its services on its social media platforms to the Gazette Website. 

Centralized platform

Given the many services that will be available on the website, UX Society Design and Consultancy Officer Denise Quico said that the Gazette will be designed to ensure easy navigation and access. 

Sanggunian Vice President Jb Bejarin explained how the Sanggunian currently has different Facebook pages for each commission, which can cause confusion among students. Through the website, students can easily direct their concerns to a “centralized” platform.

Quico also shared UX Society’s plans to display announcements from the Sanggunian on the website: “It’ll also have a fast-update kind of interface, where it’ll be easy to find updates on the weather, class suspensions, and any special announcements through their own latest tweets and latest pubmats—as you will find on the sidebar of the website.”

In addition to resolutions and memorandums, the Sanggunian is considering uploading minutes from the Central Assembly as well as its previous administrative meetings. 

“You can use all the files that we make available. That’s the plan,” Bejarin said. “The goal is [to] just put everything there because we don’t really know what people need, so let them play with the website.”

According to Dee, Sanggunian application forms, subsidy requests, and resource partnership requests will also be made available. Other features will also include a gallery for Humans of Ateneo stories where students can easily access the content.

Dee mentioned that there is also a contact page on the website so that students can have another avenue to direct their concerns aside from SSS.

“I think for Sanggu’s part, we have to make [our services] easier and more accessible for the students because we can’t let them do all the work. We have to meet them in the middle and help them access what they need,” Dee commented.

Creation and development

UX Society Vice President of User Experience Design Patricia Ramos shared that the project was already initiated in 2017 when the Sanggunian approached them with the idea for the website. However, it did not successfully push through at the time.

Sanggunian Vice President Jb Bejarin confirmed this, saying that because the prototype was not proposed early in the academic year, UX Society was unable to complete it within the academic year. 

“When you start in the middle of the year, it doesn’t work out,” Bejarin said. “The branding sessions kind of worked this year because it started really early [in the semester].”

With efforts to re-initiate the project in June 2019, he added that a thorough review was necessary before applying further changes to the prototype. 

Ramos shared that efforts to continue the development of the website were done while considering input from interviews and focus group discussions with both the Sanggunian and the previous UX Society designers who designed the initial prototype. After conducting research, they began pursuing the initiative once again.

Ramos further explained how the project came to fruition: “Despite the initial delays in the project timeline, I think the timing for the 2020 launch was rather perfect since our efforts [to continue] the Gazette were able to coincide with Sanggu’s own rebranding efforts.”

Transitioning to the Gazette

Dee said that the Sanggunian will be working closely with UX Society to monitor how the student body responds to the initiative, especially in the first few weeks after the website’s launch. In particular, they will be tracking the amount of traffic the website will receive. With this data, the Sanggunian will be able to assess whether Ateneans have adjusted to using the Gazette Website. 

“What’s good with [websites] is [that] it’s easy to track the data. Unlike with SSS, which was a Facebook platform, you rely on physical students—the Sanggu members—to track the data. That’s hard. With the website, we could track the users,” Bejarin shared.

Although concerns sent to the Sanggunian’s Facebook pages will still be entertained, Bejarin said they encourage the student body to start utilizing the Gazette Website now that it has been launched.

“We hope that whoever is next [Sanggu officers] would not only continue but [also] rely on data to decide the next policies [regarding the Gazette Website],” Bejarin said.