WebMD needs help. STAT.
WebMD has plenty of traffic, sure. But how many people feel either fed-up or panic-stricken when they eventually disengage from the digital sinkhole that is WebMD? The answer was MOST people, when we asked.
Self-diagnosing hobbyists usually start at Google, but the majority end up at WebMD. From there they are treated to an onslaught of format changes, advertising minefields and thousands of possible search results and unrelated articles for something as common as a sore throat.
To tackle the anxiety-inducing site, my project partner Jonathan and I began by interviewing users. With these results we generated affinity and mind-map nominal groupings. Finally, we created empathy diagrams for specific users: a man seeking reassurance on a recent diabetes diagnosis, a mother looking up a prescription for her child, and a college-age man with common symptoms: a cough and sore throat. Each path we took for our users through the website brought us to the same conclusion. WebMD is frustrating.
We identified our goal: make the site more comforting and trustworthy with improved structure. Reduce advertising real estate on the site. Instead promote an on-demand consultation service, the Video Doc, as an revenue alternative users will actually appreciate.
Early Sketches
Early iterations included emphasis on searching. The big reason to visit the site. As seen left, a large search bar was made prominent, menus became large content areas, and advertising reduced from immediate prominence.
While simple, it was too partitioned and far from intuitive. The structure didn’t work well when applied site-wide.
Our next iterations were called the “polite site”. Simple, conversational language was used to reassure and encourage visitors on their path. Be nice, even suggest they don’t self-diagnose, let our Video Docs help. They are always available.
Advertising was moved lower on the page, especially for search result pages. In research, our users especially didn’t appreciate having to search for their search results.
Before beginning our wireframes, we employed a three column look to the site, even for mega-menus. Home and secondary pages all kept to a 2/1 look, emphasizing important, featured content and the Video Doc.
Wireframes
Our wireframes went through multiple iterations. One particular modal was… well, reviled by users, and tossed immediately. Our “polite site” wasn’t always seen as professional enough, users didn’t trust a medical site that was overly casual.
Finally, we felt our WebMD redesign hit on a nice balance of reassuring and innovative. Users appreciated the Video Doc, the ease of interaction, especially with an insurance option, and many found the consistent layout easier to navigate and more trustworthy. Users made clear they would visit, and revisit, the site we proposed.
