Client
Covid Clinic
Project
Website & Patient Experience Re-Design
My role & skills
Vice President of Web Services
Project lead
Project management
Information architecture
Strategy
Development lead
Responsibilities
As the Vice President of Web Services, I was tasked with leading a team of developers and designers to redesign and launch the Covid Clinic website. The old website was clunky, outdated, and had a fragile booking process that often crashed. It created a domino effect of bad experiences for patients. Our primary goal was to make the website more dependable and improve overall usability. We went from daily crashes to no downtime at all within a 3-month launch window.
Process
Evaluation & Content Strategy
The first step in the redesign process was to evaluate the old system and document all domains, subdomains, and landing pages. There were multiple WordPress sites with primary and subdomains, but no documentation for any of them. We had to create an inventory of all the existing websites and identify any issues or areas that needed improvement.
We worked with Brain Traffic, a content strategy consulting firm, to establish the information architecture and content strategy for the new website. This involved creating a clear navigation structure and organizing content in a way that made sense to users.
We evaluated all the content on the old website and mapped URLs to new pages. This was done to ensure that all the important information from the old site was included in the new site and that users could find what they were looking for quickly and easily.
UI & UX Design
We worked with our internal design team to revise designs from Brain Traffic to reflect new brand styling and content additions. This involved making changes to the website's visual design, such as the color scheme, typography, and imagery.
We also worked with the product team to implement the new booking system. The old booking system was retired, and we secured historical patient data to ensure continuity of care. The new booking system was more reliable, easier to use, and offered patients greater flexibility in booking appointments.
Launch Plan
When it finally came time to launch the website, we were able to migrate the domain and retire the old site successfully with no downtime on the website at all. This was a major achievement and a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team. Our strategy was to target the lowest traffic day and time on the website, then work to migrate the domain after normal business hours so we could have a cushion of time for damage control, just in case we ran into any technical errors.
We created a contingency plan for 404 errors after launch and domain migration. This involved identifying any potential issues that might arise and putting measures in place to address them quickly. Despite our best efforts, there were a few missing pages with 404 errors that appeared after launch. We worked quickly to recreate the content and put redirects in place to ensure that users did not experience any disruptions in their use of the site.
Conclusion
The redesign and launch of the Covid Clinic website was a major success. Our team was able to retire the old booking system, secure historical patient data, and create a new, more dependable booking system. We were also able to migrate the domain and retire the old site without any downtime on the website. Our efforts resulted in a more user-friendly and reliable website that improved the overall experience for patients.