IHADCANCER
Responsive Website + Social Network / 2015
I led the redesign of IHadCancer.com, which won the 2016 Webby Award for Best Community Website. With IHC quickly becoming the most engaged cancer support website in the world, a complete overhaul was necessary to continue providing users with the tools they need to take control of their disease. We took advantage of having an incredibly passionate and dedicated user-base, holding focus groups and conducting interviews with different user types. We compared this insight with both Google and social analytics to plan the site's structure and content strategy. The new site requirements included being responsive (mobile friendly), an increased focus on the user generated blog, more robust user communication functionality, and implementation of a recent rebrand of the organization.
A Platform of Healing
The homepage serves as a gateway for cancer fighters, survivors, supporters, and caretakers to the resources and connections that they have come to expect. We have increased engagement with a dynamic feature area allowing users to immediately jump into the latest content, connect with other members, and browse relevant resources. Our hierarchy of buckets and CTA's were guided by user feedback along with Google Analytics and Hotjar sessions.
Organized and Mobile Friendly
A dual sidebar navigation houses site content on the left (blog, resources, community discussions, etc.) and user profile content on the right (newsfeed, messaging, notifications, etc.)
A Voice for the Cancer Community
IHC was created in 2008 as an online resource to connect recently diagnosed cancer patients to others that have gone through, or are currently going through, similar experiences. The site included open discussions, private messaging, and a blog for members to submit articles. With these blog articles reaching hundreds of thousands of shares on Facebook, the IHC Blog became the entrance to the site for the majority of new users. The user submitted articles gives the community a voice, and this voice has clearly resonated with so many that have been impacted by the disease.
Stronger Together
A key opportunity for increasing engagement on the new IHC site was through enhanced user profiles, newsfeeds, communication tools, and notifications. We built a platform that would simplify how users contribute to discussions, engage with IHC resources, and connect and communicate peer-to-peer with other members of the community.
Search for Support
As mentioned, the original IHC was created to be a tool where people could find the support they needed beyond their immediate network. This will forever remain a key element of the site and has been enhanced to include type of cancer, age, year diagnosed, location, gender, and type of member. Users have the ability to connect, communicate, and share strength within a safe environment.