Horizons
A Healthcare and Aging Media Company Based in Denver
[ Project ]
SUMMARY
I researched and redesigned the website for Horizons
TEAM
Work Performed By Nicole Danner: Content, Design, and Project Management
Additional Work Done By: Back-End Developer, Attorney, and CPA
[ Problem Statement ]
Horizons launched initially with a simple website. Once the company started to grow, resources were invested to revamp the website to include a better conversion funnel, CRM integration, and additional educational components.
[ Project Goals ]
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Create a loyal user base
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Establish trust and credibility in the local healthcare market
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Differentiate from competitors through innovation and credibility
[ Research Methods ]
Market Analysis
Interviews
Information Architecture
Personas
User Journeys
Prototype Testing
[ Market Analysis ]
An in-depth market analysis was completed with the only direct competitor in the marketplace and two indirect competitors.
The direct competitor's website was reflective of the company's structure with a nationally focused homepage leading to local pages for each of their franchisees. This allowed for Horizons to differentiate itself by emphasizing on its homepage that it was solely focused on Denver. The direct competitor also did not provide any educational components such as definitions of senior industry terms and explanations of the different levels of care available.
Further market analysis was performed on two in-direct competitors of senior resource guides in other major markets. These sites helped to provide the inspiration for design components including: a google map pinpointing the resources on the search results page and a carousel of images for users to click through on the resource profile pages.
I reached out to 7 users to understand their needs, motivations and frustrations to shape the website.
[ Main Focus Areas ]
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What are the challenges or barriers with an online directory?
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What information does the user want on the website?
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How can educational components be integrated into the design?
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How can I integrate a CRM system to maximize the user experience and ultimately lead to more conversions?
"I like the simplicity of the design. It's easy to navigate." - Interview with Ben G., Senior Industry Colleague
[ Key Findings and Implementations ]
Personalization
Users wanted to be able to save their favorite resources, which was not an original feature of the design. A profile feature was added to allow users to save a “Favorite’s List”.
Education
Many users did not know or misunderstood industry terms. Educational components were weaved throughout the website redesign including: a glossary of terms, explanations to common questions and having search result pages include a prominently displayed detailed definition of the searched resource.
Accessible Design
Older users have a critical pain point with lack of accessibility in design. One major issue was many users needed larger text due to their declining eyesight.
Accessibility was implemented into design with the following design elements:
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Simpler design with drop-down menus
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Prominent navigation text and buttons
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Large font size and easy-to-read font
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Icons
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High-contrast colors
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Coding written to be easily read by assistive technologies
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Design for keyboard navigation
I synthesized the findings to create personas and user journeys. This process showed the need to expand on the frequently asked questions page for users who might be entering into the senior industry without an understanding of common terminology and processes.
[ Final Design ]
After research and multiple design iterations, the final website redesign centered on the following main features:
Comprehensive Directory
A robust search feature was an essential part of the website redesign. The above-the-fold, drop-down search feature accomplished multiple needs, including:
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Higher conversion rate than previous site
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Met the request from clients and users for a more user-friendly interface
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Created a simpler funnel for users to reach advertisers
Advertiser Profiles For User Conversion
Advertisers were given a resource profile page. This greatly increased user engagement and conversions.
Educational Page
An educational component was added as a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page. The SEO-friendly content on this page and others contributed to Horizons achieving the top “Denver Senior Resources” search ranking on Google.
Favorite Lists
After feedback during interviews, a feature was added to allow users to save their “favorites”, which resulted in increased user engagement and conversions.
