UX Case Study
I developed UX/UI designs for LifeFlight, the aeromedical organisation that runs the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue service. I collaborated with internal stakeholders to review and analyse pain points on the site as well as review the information architecture and main desired user flow. The new website is currently under development.
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My role: UX/UI Designer and Researcher
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Prototypes and research can be provided upon request.
The problem
The current website is aimed towards a mix of end users that have very different needs and has a strong focus on a 'aeromedical excellence and capability' message. Since the launch of that website in 2020, it has became evident that this divided focus does not support any of the audiences, nor does it help with brand positioning.
The goal
The new website would better position the brand towards community groups and remove pain-points.
Research
The three main user groups that use the LifeFlight website include:
(1) commercial audiences who are interested in the aeromedical capability of the organisation
(2) community members looking to donate or support the organisation
(3) people looking to train with the LifeFlight Training Academy.
User pain points
1.
Unclear and unrelatable brand positioning
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The overall message of the site was much less about the 'people' impact and more about the organisation's aeromedical capability. However, the Support Us section had overwhelming CTAs to encourage donations, and even a different colour scheme, and the Training section was targeted to aeromedical professionals looking to book a course. This confused the brand positioning on the site.
2.
Poor navigation
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The site navigation made it difficult to explore any secondary pages. The secondary navigation was only visible once in specific sections. Therefore, it forced users to click on pages to find the sub-pages, adding an unnecessary step to their journey.
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The site also had poor navigation for news articles, including the news article layouts, making it difficult to find specific articles.
3.
Disjointed donation journey
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All users donating were being trafficked onto a third-party donation site, which made it difficult for users to explore the LifeFlight website at any point during the donation journey.
4.
Disjointed course bookings​
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Aviation professionals had to enquire via forms for most courses. It was also more difficult to find courses on the website due to the poor navigation.
Starting the design
I started the design work with competitor research looking at other aeromedical charities and how they position their services. Common themes carried over were clear donate buttons, elements that truly highlight the impact of the organisation on peoples' lives and a 'What we do' section.
Taking on the learnings from that research, I developed prototypes that addressed the pain points such as:
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1. A clearer, more relatable brand positioning through (1) the 'capabilities' section becoming the 'What we do' section and the reorganisation of some of the information architecture; (2) a stories section that showcased the patient and people stories; (3) the creation of 'Our crew' and 'Our doctors' pages to make the organisation more relatable to community members and humanise the organisation, which was lacking on the current site.
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2. Improved navigation with (1) drop-downs and (2) a news section with its own search functionality and filters, making it easier to find articles of interest.
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3. A native donation journey was developed to keep all users on the LifeFlight website instead of on the third party website. The donation form followed a three step purchase journey starting with the donation amount and information, then the personal information and then the payment details. The form encouraged the users through the process with a progress bar and at the end thanked them for donating and allowed them to explore other areas of the site.
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4. The designs aimed to remove the Training section from the site altogether, instead building the Training Academy its own website optimised for booking aviation courses. This has been mapped out into future UX design work.
Limitations and Takeways
If I had had the opportunity, I would have liked to have completed more comprehensive research as well as usability studies on the prototype prior to development. However, despite the project limitations, I was able to improve the user experience by removing pain points and I was able to advocate for a new site for the LifeFlight Training Academy.