Content Strategy & UX Design
Internal website migration and redesign
Rebranding and increasing content buy-in for NMDP's internal network site — helping partners find resources, policies, and processes through clearer user journeys.
- Client
- NMDP
- Timeline
- 17+ weeks · 6+ discovery, 11+ design & testing
- Role
- Content design, content strategy, content research
The challenge
The site had not been properly updated despite two company rebrands. Partners had varying levels of buy-in, resulting in outdated sections and difficulty finding relevant resources. When I joined mid-project, the content audit was only partially completed and inaccurate.
The approach
Despite being several weeks behind when I joined, we completed the project on time, patched portions of the site design as a temporary fix during development, created a Forms & Policies hub, and built user journeys to identify landing pages cluttering the site.
Project context
NMDP is the official manager of the nation's registry for blood stem cell donors. With an international network of transplant centers, apheresis and collection centers, and cord blood banks, the network site manages processes, best practices, and resources.
Tools: Miro, Figma, Asana
Team: 1 UX designer, 8 developers, 1 digital marketing strategist, 9 subject matter experts, 3 project managers, and 1 scrum master.
My design process
01
Interviews
While reviewing the content audit, I noticed that SMEs had been interviewed but were confused about what the project was accomplishing. Information about the content was therefore vague. I conducted interviews with 9 SME stakeholders about the content on 273 landing pages in 4 weeks to fill the gaps.
This was also an opportunity to establish buy-in with product users by advocating for content as a solution for business processes.
02
User Journey
After discussing business goals with SMEs and reviewing content, we retired or consolidated landing pages to avoid clutter and ensure a seamless journey to resources, announcements, and processes.
We discovered four main user journeys based on role within the donor journey: Transplant Centers, Apheresis & Collection Centers, Donor Centers, and Cord Blood Banks. The roles overlapped more than we realized, allowing us to combine pages and create a filtering system for important documents instead of using anchor-text links.
03
Content Audit
I compiled findings into a content audit for visibility. It included audience, content owner, relevant copy changes, content performance, and new URLs. This supported redirects, rewriting, and the new sitemap later in the project.
04
Rebrand & Edit
Because the project was already a few weeks behind and we wanted a content-first approach, we developed a set number of page templates and components and referenced them in a copy document instead of building wireframes for every page. This allowed the written portion of the design to finish in only 3–4 weeks and get the project back on track.
05
UAT
I completed an initial round of user acceptance testing. The findings showed that our team needed to map URLs more clearly. I completed that mapping exercise to ensure the rest of UAT went smoothly.
06
UX Patch
Despite efforts to expedite our processes, developers could not finish the document filtering feature in time for launch. I partnered with our UX designer over a weekend to build wireframes for stakeholders as an alternative while developers completed the feature.
We used separate tabs for partner roles until filtering was completed. The design patch was approved, and the site launched on time.
Results
273
landing pages reviewed through interviews with 9 SME stakeholders
3–4
weeks to complete the written portion of the design
On time
site launch after the temporary Forms & Policies design was approved
“I don't know how I could do the work I do without the help of Lucas Eckerley. He has been instrumental in the Network site project by providing us with his well crafted copy for pages we are editing. He's always stepping up when asked to do any task – plus, he's just a really nice guy and great to work with.”