Helping seniors research and find their community

seniorhousingnet (part of realtor.com), 2019 | product & editorial Design
Source: Theo Wargo, Getty Images 
Problem

SeniorHousingNet — a home search and research tool — was having trouble building trust with its 55+ demographic. At an estimated 73 million in population, the baby boomer generation will be over 65 by 2030.

With the growing need for senior services, we wanted to make sure we were positioned and prepared to succeed. Our services cater to various needs, from independent living to respite care. SeniorHousingNet is one of the few sources of comprehensive information, but the endless amount of literature can be hard to parse through.

This challenge seemed to be confirmed by the health of our product. Consumer satisfaction (CSAT) ratings were trending down, bounce rates were high, and referral rates to housing providers were low. We had a hunch that SeniorHousingNet survived simply because alternatives weren’t much better. 

DISCLAIMER

Some information has been omitted and obfuscated in this case study to comply with my non-disclosure agreement. Opinions and analyses in this case study are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my past employers.

tl;dr

I redesigned SeniorHousingNet’s consumer research experience. Improved readability, findability, and discoverability of the editorial content. Updated the brand identity and styleguides.

Team

Marisa Parsons, Design Director
Ivie Clifford, Product Manager
Len Yeh, UX Designer

Research

Given that our research and editorial content is often the first service touchpoint for seniors (rather than our homepage) we started our investigation there. User testing of the existing product validated a few common concerns.

  • Organization makes it hard to find information

  • Cluttered design is hard to read; legibility is poor

  • Doesn’t feel trustworthy

  • Visuals are drab, cheap, and uninspiring

  • Photos feel Inauthentic and unrepresentative

BEFORE A blindly SEO-driven approach left our design overstuffed with text, keywords, and links. Poor hierarchy, alignment, and inappropriate font sizes contributed to poor legibility. Ads and inauthentic imagery led to a lack of trust.

It was apparent our seniors felt slighted. They might be older, but that was no reason for the design to be so dated. People in their 50s hate being depicted as senile. Some are single and seeking community and connections, not care. They are more digitally savvy than we give them credit for, which made it important for us to confront our ageism bias.

Insight

UNPACKING our existing approach

Historically, SeniorHousingNet pushed a very formulaic, SEO-driven approach. Keywords and content were blindly stuffed with little consideration of typefaces or font sizes. The information architecture was in disarray, making it hard to find the right content. Our SEO rankings appeared high, but at what cost? Visitors came, but they didn’t stay.

BEFORE An example of a tag cloud that appears on article pages. Confusing ads with unrelated search bars also confused users.

We needed to shift from being SEO-driven (which only made the team hyper-focused on KPIs) to being problem-driven and SEO-informed. Our seniors and caregivers had one main intent: to find trustworthy and relevant information. 

Suddenly, it was clear we had a case of mistaken identity. We were an educational resource accidentally acting like a news site, prioritizing currency and aiming for clicks and pageviews. Our objective to provide the best research experience meant different priorities: readability, findability, and discoverability. 

DESIGN

Readability

We increased contrast and hierarchy of colors, typography, and imagery to make the content easy to navigate. Refined styles for longform content boosted legibility and clarity.

Findability

Organizing our content by topics instead of currency made it clear where to find relevant information. Knowledge about various types of senior care isn’t changing that often, so we consolidated them into Guides.

Miscellaneous

To build trust and maintain business goals, we refreshed the brand identity and sourced more lively photography. Search modules were no longer confused with ads.

Guides Landing Page.png

Editorial landing page design meant to guide readers to the top categories and resources to help them understand their options (e.g. quiz, glossary)

Article Page.png

Article page design

Discoverability

Tags and recommendations were polished for relevancy. Those interested in Alzheimer’s Care want to quickly discover related info, not aimlessly jump to other topics.

Do not think that thoughtful design is just for the elderly, or the sick, or the disabled. In the field of design, this is called “inclusive design” for a reason: It helps everyone.

⬆︎ Don Norman, The New Business of Growing Old, Fast COmpany
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