Blue Mountain Hospital District
Mar – Oct 2024
Humanizing the Healthcare Experience
Problem
Blue Mountain Hospital District's website faced a significant challenge: it lacked clarity and purpose. It wasn’t serving patients, didn’t communicate important information, and felt disconnected from the hospital’s brand. The outdated design and confusing user experience undermined the hospital’s professional image. I was brought to the project with the goal of re-envisioning and revitalizing the website into a seamless, modernized platform that not only enhanced the brand’s visibility but also created a positive, functional experience for the community they serve.
Tools
Adobe XD
Adobe Photoshop
HTML / CSS
JSON
WordPress
Contribution
UI/UX Design
User Research
Developer
Branding
Team
Zach Fergeson — Photo/Video
Emilie McGowen — Account Manager
Katelyn Sweeny — Copywriter
Discover
The project began with understanding the core frustrations users had with the current website. I conducted informal user interviews with people who fit the hospital’s various personas (parents, patients, former healthcare employees, etc) and asked them many questions — "How would you go about scheduling an appointment as a new or existing patient?", "What information do you see that helps you trust this hospital?”, and "What parts of the website are overwhelming you?". These questions revealed a pattern of confusion, where users struggled to find the information they needed, leading to diminished trust. At the same time, I explored competitor websites and sought inspiration from top-tier healthcare and design standards to shape the visual direction with cohesion, approachability, and professionalism.
Wireframe
.jpg)
Mockup v2
.jpg)
Live Site
Process
With these insights in hand, I began crafting a new user experience. The homepage, once a cluttered collection of notices and events, was transformed into a streamlined hub for key information indicated in the user interviews. Through multiple iterations, I honed the layout and flow, ensuring it was intuitive and accessible. I collaborated with the photographer to gather imagery that would evoke trust and warmth and with copywriters to ensure the messaging was clear and welcoming. By creating high-fidelity mockups, I presented a design that aligned the website redesign with the hospital’s goals while keeping the user’s needs at the forefront.
Solution
When building and developing the new, completely custom site from scratch, I made sure to keep all of my research in mind. Contact information, patient resources, and key services were prominently featured, ensuring accessibility. The site’s aesthetic was refreshed with understated colors, legible typography, and plenty of imagery that welcomed users from the moment the page loaded. Navigation was simplified, and the sitemap was restructured to better align with user needs, ensuring a smoother journey throughout the site. By focusing on the user experience, the new site not only aligned with the hospital’s professional image but also made it easier for patients to engage with it.
Impact & Future
At the end of it all, the hospital’s team and patients alike were delighted by its new look, and the team was grateful to have worked with us through every step of the process. With this project, I learned the importance of user research and tried new things along the way. If given future opportunities, I would be excited to continue working with Blue Mountain Hospital District as they grow, possibly collaborating on projects like social media campaigns, patient outreach materials, and print collateral. Each new initiative would present them with the opportunity to deepen their connection with their community and further elevate their brand, and it would give me the potential to grow alongside them.
