We were tasked with creating a digital experience that would generate leads, provide education, anticipate and answer common questions, and promote their top specialization – interpreting neurodiagnostic studies.
In addition, the site had to engage and encourage users with clear calls to action and simple user journeys for patients to take the next step to contact the office.
The sites’ content needed to speak clearly to patients with chronic conditions, patients with sudden acute care, and their primary caretakers and families. A fourth persona would be other healthcare practitioners looking to refer their patients.
I had to wear multiple hats as usual with freelance projects, but my primary roles were content strategist, designer, and developer.
One of the design challenges was to develop, edit and accommodate the vast content the website needed to communicate with the audience. The complexity of neurological disorders also was a challenge because it needed to appeal to our primary personas and provide it in a sensible manner without overwhelming users.
Proposed Logo Update
Quick Style Guide
Color Palette
After working alongside the practice owners for the second time and clearly defining the project’s goals, I focus on the content strategy. I conducted persona research and audited the existing content of the website to determine if it required re-writing and what new content needed to be developed. I also do an SEO research strategy to identify low competition high-value keywords and phrases to include in the content. After this process, I created a sitemap content outline for the doctor and practice owners so they could write a draft of this content. This content needed to align with a specific persona and guide them to write content for the web where you begin with the conclusion or summary at the top.
With the content going, I began to work on some subtle alignments with their logo and their low-fidelity “digital” sketches for their website. Once I had made some progress with I periodically presented my ideas to the client for feedback. With every iteration of the content and the design, the website started to take shape. Around this time, I usually like to test the visual style, and I created a “style cheat sheet.” It’s something to explore some simple elements like logo, typography, line height, headlines, and body text, as well as the color palette and some UI components.
After re-working some of the content, we can move to high-fidelity wireframes and visual design. So I begin exploring all the components in a layout. After creating a complete flow, I do some guerrilla user testing with family members and their office staff to identify any major issues with flow, usability, and content as well as get some qualitative data and first impressions. I also send the clickable prototype to the owners for their revisions and approval.
The website was going to live on WordPress as the content management system. So, once we have the go-ahead from the stakeholders, I can begin to work on the custom theme. I install a barebones bootstrap theme that has most of what I need to create a custom theme. So I began creating custom templates that help with consistency and maintenance while allowing for flexibility when presenting the information.
Ultimately, we delivered a modern website, with the rest of the content accessible through fluid transitions between the pages. The website’s resource center contains various links to educational materials about neurological disorders. The website’s contact information is also easily accessible and includes directions to the office and contact forms for patients and healthcare professionals.