Research, Strategy & Design for a Top Academic Medical Center

OBJECTIVE

A well-known medical school, hospital, and research operation needed a strategic framework to bring together hundreds of external websites into a cohesive, consistent 4-site system based on audience.

Our team sought to improve brand clarity while telling the powerful story of the tripartite mission and accomplishments. We were charged with developing key process improvements to allow content managers to use a tightly designed system of flexible components, and to create content once and publish in multiple places. It was one of the agency’s largest projects to date, and resulted in savings of $1.7 million annually for the client.

MY ROLE

As the UX lead on the project, I:

• Acted as a lead in the discovery process, interviewing researchers, clinicians, faculty, medical students, administrative staff, and patients to develop a detailed understanding of user needs, tasks, and issues.

• Initiated the creation of a brand new site in the client portfolio, for the exclusive purpose of showcasing their medical research operation - a historically underserved part of the mission in terms of visibility.

• Maintained strong client partnership through regular working meetings, sharing of work, and assisting in evangelizing the new system to others at the client organization.

• Created a clickable proof of concept in Figma to demonstrate the structure of the 4-site system based on audience needs, cross-site integration, and content sharing principles.

• Managed and mentored junior team members.

• In later phases, worked with the design system and components created by our visual design team, as well as suggested new components.

• Worked as part of a team including visual designers, developers, content strategists, copywriters, and account direction.

DELIVERABLES

Discovery: stakeholder and user interviews, surveys, workshops, competitor analysis, card sorting; review and analysis of 300+ client websites, documentation of findings, recommendations and site strategy.
UX: sitemaps, wireframes, clickable proof of concept/prototype of 4-site system; ongoing usability testing; ongoing partnership with client team members.

OUTCOMES

• Achieved $1.7 million in annual savings by consolidating over 300 siloed websites into a unified digital ecosystem

• Created a cohesive digital ‘front door’ that effectively represents the client's corporate entity while seamlessly integrating their hospital, medical school, and research operation sites

• Implemented a 'freedom within a framework' approach, balancing the core tenet of academic freedom with a structured, intuitive information architecture, a component-based visual design system adhering to brand principles, and a comprehensive content strategy

• Enhanced content quality and consistency while reducing duplication and maintenance through a ‘create once, publish everywhere’ functionality

• Developed clear pathways for users to accomplish key tasks, such as finding a doctor, understanding conditions treated, learning about and applying to the medical school, and exploring groundbreaking medical research