UX Design Consultancy: Speech Therapy web design
This report outlines the steps taken throughout the UX assignment to design a new website for Nurture speech therapy services. The goal was to create a user-friendly, accessible, and concise website to access these services.
Background
I was approached by a friend who had recently returned home from Canada and was in the process of setting up her own business in speech therapy.
She required a website and had little to no experience in building one.
This service is the first of it's kind in UK and Ireland.
The client wanted a complete redesign and to make sure her website would meet UX and accessibility standards.
Objectives
Creating an intuitive navigation system
Design a clear, logical menu structure.
Ensure consistency across all pages to prevent confusion.
Developing an engaging visual design
Create cohesive design that aligns with brand.
Clean, modern design that is both visually appealing and functional.
Ensuring accessibility compliance
Ensure sufficient colour contrast and readable font sizes.
Use imagery to describe services to enhance familiarity.
Enhancing user engagement
Create interactive elements such as forms and clickable images to engage users.
Incorporate feedback mechanisms.
Research & Discovery
What is being provided?
Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets
PROMPT is a specialised approach to speech therapy that focuses on the intricate connection between speech, language, and cognition.
This innovative technique utilises tactile-kinesthetic input to guide and shape a client's articulatory movements, promoting the development of accurate speech sound production and overall communication skills. By incorporating physical cues and hands-on techniques, PROMPT therapy aims to facilitate the coordination and integration of oral motor movements, leading to improved communication skills.
With its individualised and holistic approach, PROMPT therapy empowers individuals of all ages to effectively communicate and express themselves with confidence.
Competitor Analysis
Analysed several key aspects of competitor websites within Ireland and UK to focus on and gain valuable insights.
The areas analysed are as follows:
1. User Interface (UI) Design
Visual Design, Layout and Structure, Consistency.
2. Usability
Ease of Navigation, User Flow, Accessibility.
3. Functionality
Core Features, Innovative Features, Performance.
4. Content
Relevance and Quality, Tone and Style, Multimedia Integration.
5. Competitive Positioning
Market Position, Value Proposition, Pricing Strategy.
User Personas
Here I wanted to create three user personas varying in details. With the help of my client she gave me ideas from clients she had previously worked with and some of the goals, pain points and preferred features they may be interested in.
The three user personas targeted were:
1. A parent seeking paediatric speech therapy.
2. A professional, middle-aged, seeking speech therapy for stuttering.
3. A retiree seeking post-stroke speech therapy.
By focusing on these specific needs and preferences, the speech therapy service will be well-equipped to provide tailored, effective, and supportive care to a diverse range of clients.
Planning & Design
Site map
Firstly, after consulting with my client, I created a site map in order to organise the website's content logically and get an idea of how it will be structured and generate ideas of how it will look.
User flow
After creating the site map, I generated a possible user flow. This was mapped out in order to ensure seamless navigate and task completion for the user.
Sketches
Now that we had an idea of how the website would be structured as well as how the user will flow and navigate through it, it was time to sketch an idea of how it should look. As we wanted to keep things consistent across all pages to ensure users do not get lost, this was a straightforward process.
Outcome
Final designs
With the client having access to and wanting to manage her website through Squarespace - the majority of the decisions related to things like primary and accent colours, typography, accessibility measures and responsive design were made for us.
A colour palette that was professional and matched well with the business' brand was chosen and I put my sketches and ideas into reality.
