Overview
Beyond a visually appealing site, the non-profit needed a new structure and an optimized referral-request flow.
The Support Network, a non-profit organization that provides parents and caregivers of children with behavioral and educational needs with resources, reached out for a website refresh. After navigating the site, I noticed that it needed more than an update. The directors expressed the desire to make resources more discoverable. My solution refreshed site architecture, visuals, and hierarchy and improved intake processes via a new referral requests flow.
Discovery
Readability issues and architecture were getting in the way of providing services.
During a web audit, I discovered navigational issues. There were pages with repeated content, poor hierarchy, and low contrast. I improved the navigation via an updated site architecture that prioritized resources and flows.
The current referral request form created user friction.
The referrals are important for outreach and services. Through referrals, staff connect parents to medical health professionals who can provide care and guidance for their child. Yet, the process of getting a referral and requesting additional services was tedious.
Not only was the referral request page buried in other pages, but also the process was dated, relying on printing out forms and sending items by mail. The burdensome process held parents back, affecting the organization's outreach and mission.
Creating visuals that align with the organization’s mission played a part in helping it stand out.
A quick Google search shows how common the name "The Support Network" is among mental health-related organizations. Therefore, The Support Network in Western Massachusetts was competing for participants with organizations around the country. It needed a different way of standing out.
I swapped the low-contrast colors and images with intense black-and-white images to create a more professional look. The new colors helped identify The Support Network as a mental health-oriented organization and communicated that it was geared towards families.
Process
Mapping out pages to ensure that relevant information is seen first.
The original website suffered page bloat. My strategy was to reduce the number of pages by prioritizing valuable information and condensing repetitive content into a single page.
Simplifying the referral request process to increase clients.
One of the underlying goals of the redesign was to facilitate referral requests. Although it was not on the brief, it frequently came up during meetings.
The current process had too many steps, which discouraged busy parents. I made the process simpler by putting the entire form on a single page and redirecting answers to the coordinator’s inbox.
A much-needed update beyond the visuals.
The website’s main problem was awareness. Current clients were having trouble finding the actual website and even more trouble finding what they needed when they arrived. Aside from updating the site architecture, I wanted to help situate the website within mental health. I updated the colors and images, but also updated copy, SEO, and metadata to align with search terms so that The Support Network would show up when clients searched for the organization.
Final Design
The final outcome.
Reflection
Look beyond the brief.
Having had some experience working with clients, I learned that there is always more to a design project than is stated in the brief. As a result, I learned to ask questions early and be attentive to recurring themes and topics that show up in meetings. Doing so has helped me identify problems early in the design process.