INVENT-VTE
Summary:
The International Network of VENous Thromboembolism Clinical Research Network (INVENT-VTE) came to Sandbox Software looking to have their website redesigned to meet AODA/WCAG accessibility guidelines as well as provide a more user friendly way to access different sections of their website.
Sandbox Team:
1 UX designer/project manager, 1 project associate, 1 web developer
Project Scope:
This was a smaller website project which included client interviews, recommendations regarding website features, wireframes and information architecture as well as project management of site development.
My Roles:
User researcher, user experience designer, project manager
UX Skills Used:
Client interviews to understand userbase, wireframes, information architecture creation
Launch Date:
2019
NOTE: The user research materials, wireframes and reports belong to Sandbox Software and the client. The visuals below were created for this portfolio to provide an idea of my thought process on specific aspects of this project.
A reference for this project is available.
Problem
Through conducting client interviews, I learned a lot about their specialized target audiences and where their website was falling short.
Primary Challenges
- Website was not AODA/WCAG accessibility compliant
- Information on the site was siloed. Meaning it was unclear there was any relation between Network Members and Studies.
- While the site was not very large it took a lot of clicks to get to network members or information of endorsed studies
- Website was mostly text, making it visually unappealing
Meet John
John is a venous thromboembolism clinical researcher and is currently working in a VTE research facility in Spain. He loves his job and the industry that he is in. One of the things that he enjoys the most is the ability to collaborate with his co-workers and other researchers world wide on cutting edge research.
Previously John lived in the US, however 2 years ago he had the opportunity to join a research team in Spain and he’s been loving living out there.
NOTE: While personas were not a part of the scope of this project, I found it helpful to have someone in mind when determining what website features would be most useful.
Network Member and Study User Flow
Below is a sample user flow which outlines how a site visitor would get information about a network member or a study.
John is a part of the a Spanish VTE Network. By conducting a Google search about VTE networks, he came across INVENT-VTE and he looks at the Canadian network and the studies they are conducting.
NOTE: In the original site Network Members and Studies were siloed in that a visitor was unable to move back and forth between these areas. This new interconnectivity allows visitors to access information easier and better understand the relationship between Network Members and Studies.
INVENT-VTE Home Page Features
When conducting my interviews with the client, it was mentioned that they were looking to have a more vibrant and engaging site. I suggested a few different techniques and features for the home page to make it more appealing and user friendly.
Images in Navigation
The drop down menu for Network Members contains a text menu, as well as the corresponding flag for that country. It was an elegant way to liven up the design and add provide a recognizable visual element.
Newsletter Subscribe Button
The button colour was made to stand out by using a different colour from their traditional blue colours. Clicking on the button allows a form panel to slide in from the right hand side of your screen. This technique allowed the button to stand out without having to display the entire form on the site at all times.
Endorsed Studies
This clean and simple scrolling widget feature allows website visitors to scan the most recent studies and/or select the primary network member and search only for studies related to that network. This feature capitalizes on having Network Members and Studies related to each other in the back end of the content management system, therefore providing a richer user experience.
Network Member: Canada Page Features
The Network Member detail pages were also enhanced greatly with extra visuals and data that has been repurposed from other areas.
For this website, there were a variety of site users. The obvious ones are the clinical researcher website visitors and such. The other user I needed to consider is the website administrator. The features I recommended needed to be easy to use by site visitors as well as be as efficient to use by the site administrator.
Below you will find explanations as to how the features improved the site.
Country Flag
A country flag was added to the design to remain consistent in displaying a flag image when presenting network members.
Network Member Logo
It was important to build in the network member logos into the site design in order to further enforce the visual brand of the individual networks.
Endorsed Studies Buttons
In the backend of the content management system, network members and their respective studies are related to each other. This makes site maintenance simpler, but it also offers a much more flexible user experience. While on the Canada network member page, a visitor can click on a study button and go directly to that study detail page.
Council Members
Council members can be board members. Therefore I recommended that a Board of Director record can be linked to a network member page which would automatically populate the biographical information. An example of this is Gregoire Le Gal. This gives the website visitor more information, but is simple to implement in the content management system for the web administrator.
Reflections
- I have been told that the new website has been well received however looking back I would have liked to have done a user research survey to their website audience to make sure I wasn’t missing any features they wanted. Sadly due to budget constraints this was not an option.
- Overall the project went very well from start to finish. It was a pleasure working with INVENT-VTE.