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Audience Research, Digital Strategy, Website Redesign
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March of Dimes
CLIENT
ABOUT THE CLIENT
Through research, advocacy, and direct programs, March of Dimes is working to end preventable maternal health risks and death, end preventable preterm birth and infant death and close the health equity gap for all families.
I conducted extensive audience research, crafted a new digital strategy, and designed a new website to accelerate March of Dimes' positive impact.
PROJECT
CLOSING THE
HEALTH EQUITY GAP
Site visitors can scroll horizontally to see stories of babies, moms, and families to see community and share their own if empowered.
DISTINGUISHING
FACTORS
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Extensive, trauma-informed audience research with primary audiences.
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Bringing ~40 unique websites under one umbrella.
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Design sprint workshops with internal stakeholder teams.
We started this project with an extensive discovery phase to better understand the audiences and the stakeholders.
Empathizing with mothers, & understanding current health inequities
AUDIENCES
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Mission-affected women
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Donors
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Volunteers
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Members of the medical community
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General Public
INTERVIEWS
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7 in-depth interviews
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Trauma-informed research best practices
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Personal stories about their experiences
"I want to thank you so much for your time, and ... the work that you're doing ... this does .... make an impact on families ... so thank you for doing this with the March of Dimes."
Interviewee
SURVEYS
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Survey for audiences
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Survey for website visitors
COLLABORATIVE STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOPS
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Series of collaborative workshops with internal stakeholders.
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Focus: digital ecosystem, technical debt, organizational goals, and visual design preferences.
"You did a great job navigating the conversation."
“[The stakeholders] were so, so happy with how this workshop went by the way [sic]! GREAT job to all involved - and superb facilitation by Julia!! 👏”
Colleagues
KEY FINDINGS
1. Audiences often don't neatly fit into one audience.
Several of the interviewees represented multiple audience groups, for example women who were affected by the mission in some way and then because of the services they received from the organization, decided to engage with them through donating, volunteering, or advocating.
2. March of Dimes' broader support isn't apparent.
March of Dimes supports and advocates for the health of moms, families, and babies more broadly. We found that this broader support isn't apparent in the digital presence, and it should be more inclusive and focus on equity in messaging.
3. Many site visitors are experiencing trauma.
For women who are mission-affected and in the NICU, they are likely experiencing trauma and that can affect how they will access and approach the March of Dimes website.
4. Poor bandwidth is a likelihood.
Some site visitors will be accessing the site from the hospital. They will likely be on their mobile phone and may have poor bandwidth in the hospital.
5. Creating community is critical.
Some are looking to learn from others, hear about similar experiences, and find community support groups.
Not just moms, but families.
Not just premature babies, but health for all babies.
Snapshot of the 8 current-state journey maps we created for the target audiences.
Ideating, innovating, & iterating through design sprints
As we moved from the strategy and discovery phase into the design phase, we used design sprints with internal stakeholder groups to outline findings and jumpstart ideating and solution brainstorming.
We held 10 multi-day sprints with different teams at March of Dimes. All sessions were virtual and organized through Mural. We started the sprints with research findings and the sprint challenge.
Sprint schedule.
Sprint challenge. Unique for each sprint.
We ideated together as a group, sketched out ideas, and voted on parts we liked and thought would resonate with the audiences.
"Thank you... for the sprint process. It's innovative, it's fast paced, and it's been a real connector between departments. Getting them to feel connected and comfortable with the new website is essential. Thank you for introducing this new process, and continuing to work so hard despite challenging feedback and crazy scheduling."
Client
Designing for inclusivity
Key Design Inputs
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Audience research findings from interviews and surveys
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Collaborative stakeholder workshops
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Content inventory with key data for all pages on the current website
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Comparator websites
Key Design Artifacts
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Over 50 Wireframes
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Site map for the entire website taking into account multiple digital ecosystems
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User flows for a logged-in dashboard experience
User Flow in Mural
Site Map
Wireframing, usability testing, and iterating
Following the sprint, I led our UX team to create wireframes, which we then presented to the internal stakeholder teams for their review and feedback.
We then ran usability testing with key audience members to determine if the wireframes and site maps suited their needs and were easy to use.
Sampling of wireframes for the new website.
Leading, mentoring, & collaborating
I led the user experience team and was the throughput for the design team from the strategy phase to the design phase.
I translated research findings for our teams and reviewed all design work to ensure it was regarding and interpreting correctly the digital strategy recommendations.
The homepage wireframe (left) is very much aligned with what ultimately is the current live homepage for the March of Dimes (right).
"Thank you... for continuing to work with us even when we are difficult. I love the team at MOD, but we are not an easy group! We have strong opinions and are tough to get on the same page simply because we are pulled in so many different directions. Thank you for continuing to try to put your best work forward, and show up to every meeting enthusiastically (even when we are tough)."
Client
WHAT’S NEXT STARTS HERE.
Get in touch through LinkedIn.
Guiding & communicating through development
I created a robust content model in Google Sheets to outline the content types, taxonomies, view modes, media types, and paragraphs, as well as their attendant fields and attributes.
This model was our best way to communicate design decisions and recommendations and how they might be translated into the back-end and front-end development of the website.
Content model for the content types. This helps translate design decisions to the development team.
"Thank you... for ALL that you are doing. I'm sure there are so many things that we do not see. But from what I do see, I know that the volume and complexity of what you all are tackling is quite substantial. From governance planning, to data analysis, to wireframing to information gathering, scheduling meetings, preparing for meetings, developing strategies, SOWs, decks, designs and making sense out of our feedback...it's a lot. There is not a part of this redesign that we are doing without you all, so THANK YOU. We truly do value and appreciate all that you are doing."
Client
Impact
After speaking directly to mission-affected audience members, I internalized a lot of what they said, perhaps most memorably the traumatic mental state that the users may be in as they access the website.
Goal
Design a website, through digital strategy, user experience, and content strategy, that would welcome the visitors and guide them to what they need in the most seamless and respectful way possible.
Site Accomplishments
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Showcase stories that may inspire, educate, or soothe people in similar situations.
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Organize 200+ topic pages for women to learn about research-informed and specific answers to questions and concerns that moms and families may have.
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Inspire action in a variety of ways, through donating, volunteering, or advocating.
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Connect women to local resources and community groups.
The client said I was a “tremendous force” and that March of Dimes is “blessed to have [me].”