background
Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center is a world renowned institution leading in the research, diagnostics and treatment of diseases facing infants, children and adolescents. US News and World Report ranked Cincinnati Childrens third best pediatric hospital in the United States overall in its 2008 edition of Americas Best Childrens Hospitals. Cincinnati Childrens ranked in the top ten in the following specialty areas as well: digestive diseases, respiratory diseases, heart, cancer, neonatal care and heart surgery. It is inspiring to work with the specialists at Cincinnati Childrens as they endeavor to discover solutions and change the outcome for children in 48 countries around the globe.
challenge
At Cincinnati Childrens hundreds of services are offered via patient care programs, tests, clinics and studies. Patients and families go to Childrens Web site to learn about a diagnosis, treatments, how to prepare for tests, how to care for children at home and much, much more. The health professional community visits the Web site for information about fellowship opportunities, professional education, patient referrals and research initiatives.
The Web site serves the greater hospital community with over 10,000 pages of information. Cincinnati Childrens contacted metaphor for assistance with reorganizing the Web sites information architecture in key service lines after a focus group of parents revealed that they had difficulty finding what they needed online. Though a total site redesign was a year or more away, improved navigation of content was needed immediately, particularly in the areas of Heart and Hematology/Oncology.
solution
metaphor sent an Interactive Profile form to the appropriate Leadership Teams to garner input. Though information architecture is developed primarily by thinking about the visitors experience, care giver perspective helped achieve alignment within the organization. metaphor then conducted an audit of the critical site sections.
metaphor returned information architecture for The Heart Institute and Hematology / Oncology division that reduced the number of pages in the left hand navigation by over 50 percent, folding information into new, clear content areas such as For Patients and Families, For Health Care Providers and Research. The strategy was to funnel key visitors to the information they desired - in logical areas that spoke to their needs - as quickly as possible.
metaphor understood that visual cues were also required for improved navigation. A new design approach to service line (channel) navigation was employed utilizing a color palette from the parent brand, modifying color for active states and introducing a bread-crumb structure. Additionally, metaphor introduced a simpler and more sophisticated global header and right hand navigational area, as well as an approach to managing site sections that were not receiving improved information architecture immediately. Finally, an increased use of imagery and new copywriting in select areas helped tell the deserved story of this venerable institution.
