Design thinking is about empathy—putting yourself in another person’s shoes to solve a problem they are facing. User-centered design is about, well, useability. It narrows in on the part of that solution that is tied to a digital or online experience, whether that’s a product, an application, or a website. The two concepts go hand-in-hand, and as Kopius went about building Tucson Medical Center’s (TMC Health) digital front door, both were at the forefront of our thinking.
The reason? Trust.
It’s important for people to be able to trust their health care system and its providers. And we wanted to send that message loud and clear in every digital interaction. Empathy and useability were the keys.
Key Strategies for Overcoming Complexity
Healthcare can be complicated, overwhelming—even scary. A digital front door, which is an online portal or platform where a health care system, its staff, patients, and even their families or other caregivers, can easily interact and access the information, should be designed to make it less so. Design thinking and user-centered design drove every aspect of our approach to building the new site, which we did using the Payload content management system.
Among the many strategies we used, three stand out. First, every decision we made was centered on the user journey, which was a bit tricky, since there was more than one user. Second, we made access to critical information as straightforward as possible. And third, we used visual branding to simplify and guide users.
While these are particularly critical in a health care setting, they are truly universal and applicable when developing any digital product or solution.
1. Prioritize the User Journey—Even on the Backend
When developing any digital product, the user journey should always be your top priority. But in TMC Health’s case, they needed to welcome both new and established patients, and their journeys are very different. For example, new patients are often looking for educational and marketing materials about what the health system offers while returning patients need to quickly find specific services and providers, schedule appointments, etc. We had to create pathways for both.
Digging deeper, we realized those aren’t the only two user personas that matter. TMC Health’s team uses the site to upload and manage content. They had their own user journey that had to be addressed. Not only did we need to structure the backend so they could work efficiently, but we also needed to build guardrails so that they uploaded new content, they didn’t make changes that would impact the user experience.
Websites often must address the needs of more than one user persona, both on the front end and the back. You may not be able to tackle everything at once. That was the case with the TMC Health project, so we took a phased approach. First, we addressed the established patient journey, then the needs of new patients.
2. Make Sure Important Information is Just Two Clicks Away
TMC Health’s previous website grew to include more than 1,300 pages of content. It was a maze to navigate. Our challenge was to simplify it so people could find what they needed with minimal effort. We started by conducting a content audit and inventory, then we built a restructured site map with improved hierarchy that prioritized important information. We also condensed content and sunset out of date information. In the end, we were able to get those 1,300 down to about 400, so that no critical information was more than two clicks away.
Next, we turned our attention to TMC’s internal users. To make sure they could add necessary content without overwhelming the site or patients using it, we developed content writing guidelines tailored for healthcare that focus on clarity, accessibility, and relevance. Then, we streamlined the back end to make it simpler for content writers to manage and update information across the network and reduce the need for training. We also added formatting and character count limits in the CMS to ensure new content was concise and is easy to skim.
While finding the information you need fast is critical when your health is on the line, it’s true on any website. Many companies, especially in the business world, overcomplicate their sites—they want potential customers to spend time on it. But I would caution to pick your moments. Customers come to your site for many reasons—sometimes they need information fast, and other times they’re there to learn. Prioritize accordingly.
3. Use Visual Branding to Create Cohesiveness—and Differentiation
TMC Health is comprised of 10 clinics and facilities. On their previous site, these were all visually branded the same. Typically, consistent branding is a best practice, but in this case, it created confusion for users. Our challenge was to find a way to create alignment with the primary TMC Health brand structure while making it easy for people to quickly differentiate between locations. We solved this by developing an overarching color scheme and using different but visually related colors for each location. Importantly, though, we kept the page layout consistent so users could quickly find or navigate to the information they needed.
This situation isn’t exclusive to healthcare—large corporations with multiple lines of business often face similar challenges. The big takeaway here is that color can provide cohesiveness, but in a situation where everything else is consistent, it can be a differentiator that helps the user—in this case a patient—quickly understand that they are in the right place.
Design Thinking: Empathy Builds Trust
Patient care begins at the digital front door. It’s a healthcare system’s first opportunity to build trust and demonstrate the level of care people can expect throughout their healthcare journey, from routine family care to urgent help in an emergency. A digital front door built on a solid foundation of design thinking and that prioritizes the user journey, can make a real difference in moments that matter, perhaps even saving lives.
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