Project Scope
The client asked me to identify the areas of the site that we did not have enough time to address, and that I would like to revisit. I provided them with a list of suggestions, and they agreed to review and reiterate the UX of the site. They gave us the green light to proceed with the project and allocated a healthy budget.
Assignments
- Stakeholder Interviews
- User Journeys
- Sitemapping
- Wireframes
- Worked together with overseas development team
- Competitive Analysis (direct and indirect)
Contributions & deliverables
- Competitive Analysis (direct and indirect)
- Stakeholder Interviews
- User Journeys
- Sitemapping
- Wireframes
- Collaborate with the senior art director
- Worked together with overseas development team
User Interviews
User Interviews
User Interviews
I conducted 46 user interviews in English and Spanish using Whereby! over a two-week period to validate our assumptions about user behaviors, perceptions, motivations, and needs during the redesign of the AltaMed website.
Engaging in empathic conversation
Through these interviews I heard first hand how potential site users manage their medical and healthcare needs online. Specifically, I wanted to:
- Identify users' confidence level when looking for information about their health online.
- Uncover types of content and interactions users found helpful and engaging and which ones they did not.
- Understand the trust level in the quality of information on Spanish-translated healthcare sites.
- Understand caregivers' challenges when helping their loved ones with their daily healthcare needs, including essential decisions.
Personas & Insghts
Personas & Insights
Personas & Insights
These personas brought my research findings on the target user's online behavior and motivations to life. They also reflected user information fatigue, the relevance and trustworthiness of content, ROI, and engagement with health-related content on social media.
Gen X and Millennials
During my research, I noticed that Gen Xers and Millennials presented very similar online behaviors, motivations, and fears. Both groups:
- Did not want to be treated just as a number.
- Struggled with wait times, making appointments, and lack of communication with providers.
- Were unable to find if their insurance was accepted on the site.
- Rely on Google searches for health information and were not loyal to specific sources.
- Got through the Find a Doctor Tool, but hit a few roadblocks.
- Will sign up for notifications if they can have control over what they will receive.
Caregivers
When managing healthcare responsibilities for a loved one who needs special assistance, caregivers:
- Feel it is important to them that health service providers are:
- Compassionate and patient.
- Close to home and flexible with appointments.
- Are unaware of services available to those they care for
- Are more likely to view healthcare information of the person they care for with them.
Spanish preferred participants (SPP)
SPP, or users who primarily speak or only speak Spanish, voiced a few concerns repeatedly during the user interviews:
- SPP prefer site translations over Google Translate versions.
- Qualities SPP find important when looking for new doctors:
- Know their language.
- Have an understanding of Latino health issues.
- Have schedule flexibility and nearby locations.
Sitemap
Sitemap
Sitemap
The new sitemap I created is based on user research, analytics, and new business requirements.
Within the sitemap, I was able to:
- Revisit titles of pages to be descriptive. For example, the Health and Wellness blog became Health Articles.
- Clarify how the user can qualify to join by changing the nomenclature within the Get Started With Us pages.
- Identify content types and templates.
- Consider, as well as note, content and functionality placement.
- Give direction for page content to address patient and potential patient concerns (i.e., patients not being a transaction, dependability and empathy-driven services, etc.)
Find a Doctor
Find A Doctor Tool
Find A Doctor Tool
Changes to this tool were based on my research observations and limitations we no longer had when we built this multi-step form the first time around.
Step 1:
Find care near you
All care option buttons are displayed within the user's device viewport.
Step 2:
Provider gender
Many users missed the “No Preference” option when selecting a provider. My solutions were:
- Fit buttons within the mobile viewport.
- Applied the same visual treatment.
- “No Preference” became the first option.
Step 3:
Language
- A user's site language preference is the dropdown default.
- Back and Next buttons are now within the viewport.
Step 4:
Location
- The label only listed City as an option. Now, it listsed Zip Code.
- In addition to City and Zip Code, I added neighborhoods (i.e. Echo Park, West Lake, Boyle Heights, etc.)
Step 5:
Results
- Click-to-calls became buttons
- A button for directions is displayed.
- Directions use Google Maps with the end location as the default.
- A list and a map view of results are available.
Solutions & Executions
Most updates did not have official wireframes. Most were sketches I ran the Sr. AD through describing interactions via paper prototypes, hand gestures, and sound effects.
Is AltaMed for you?
The previous homepage relied too much on the hero slider to answer prospective patient questions regarding AltaMed.
On the new homepage, I wanted users to:
- Find medical care.
- Read about who AltaMed is.
- View if they are eligible for care.
- Understand that AltaMed is there for them and their families.
- Explore services available to them.
Finding care quick
Finding care information on the mobile homepage tended to get cluttered and was no longer scannable
Here, I was able to:
- Let users know services in their language are available.
- Combined individual service modules.
- Used short labels, imagery, and negative space for services.
- Let users go through the process of finding urgent care here without leaving the page.
Health services pages
Most services within a category did not have enough content to have their own page.
- I implemented slide-outs allowing short, concise scrollable content to avoid empty pages and further additions to the navigation. (1)
- Struggles with wait times, making appointments, and Users were able to make an appointment directly from modals as content was presented. (2)
- Related content from the blog is displayed. (3)
- Modals were indexed for SEO and campaign tracking.
Contenido en Español
During my research I learned that SPP preferred content in Spanish, but were not consuming it as we expected.
From the changes made to bring more users to the Spanish site, these were the most impactful updates:
- A Spanish toggle onboarding tooltip was added which led to more users visiting the Spanish site.
- Copy reassuring users they will find healthcare in their language is caried throughout the site.
- Spanish campaigns lead to the Spanish site more seamlessly than before.
Takeaways
There was a messaging disconnect from advertising campaigns and the site. I was able to collaborate and create customer journeys for all campaigns. Always with the intention of never leaving the user asking themselves, "I'm here, now what?" once they arrive at the site or interact with any digital property.
User tech savviness changes fast. Values and perceptions about a product or service change as well. This reinforces the importance of user interviews and how valuable they are if you want to create a product that will impact its users.
I noticed the position and visual treatment of the “No Preference”, button for the “Find a Doctor”, tool but didn't go back to it. It’s a reminder to treat all possible UX issues I know will make a difference in the same capacity. This small element affected the UX and the research validated it.
During this phase of the project, we built and delivered a homepage and had to be redesigned. This allowed me to create a new layout with better interactions because I was able to look at the project again with fresh eyes.
