Institute for Disease Modeling UX
Task
Evaluate the user interface and propose a new design that accounts for added content over time.
Process
The Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM) website had undergone some growing pains, as evident through design inconsistencies and content additions that were not accounted for in the initial site structure.
Upon beginning the project, a team of stakeholders at IDM provided me with their general assessment of the site. I was given a list of feedback that various teams had shared regarding content priorities and a wishlist of other modifications to be made to the site. Keeping the insights from across the organization in mind, I dug into my assessment of the website.
I closely examined the interface design's information architecture and analyzed features to familiarize myself with the site. This helped reveal a list of items that were presented inconsistently (confusing for users) or located in unexpected places. I also spotted several elements of the interface that could be tweaked to provide an overall better user experience, such as shortening line length or providing better visual cues to indicate different information types. I presented all analyses as a document to the relevant stakeholders at IDM.
After reviewing my analysis, the IDM team helped prioritize changed to be made. These priorities included navigational shuffling, more robust research team pages to showcase their work, an organized hub for learning their modeling tools, and overall visual consistency. The changes were discussed and critiqued first as wireframes, then as rounds of comp options. Throughout the process, I worked closely with a developer to ensure that my designs were possible within the IDM Content Management System.
By proposing some light site restructuring and implementing a cohesive icon system, users can better understand their place in the website at a glance. New visual cues help establish a stronger hierarchy, including section header bars, shorter line length, wider margins, and making the page less text-heavy through adding images, videos, and icons. By bringing the research teams and their work more to the forefront, the site immediately allows the user better to understand the institute's amazing work and people.
