Creating An Effective, Research-Based, User-Centered Website

Background: The research-based redesign of the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) increased user satisfaction and intention to change behavior. 

Program background:  NCBDDD employed a user-centered, data-driven, research-based process involving organizational stakeholders and end users in design, development, testing, and evaluation of the updated website.  The project was executed using a five-step process:

• Planning: developed a work plan and secured key internal stakeholder buy-in.
• Research: conducted primary and secondary research to analyze site users and evaluate the performance of the existing website. Research included a literature review, analysis of metrics, interviews with internal and external stakeholders, a “card sort” activity to inform site architecture, and the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey to provide a benchmark for overall user satisfaction.
• Development: built content and layout for the first set of new pages that would undergo usability testing, guided by the initial research findings.
• Usability Testing and Launch: conducted usability testing with external users to measure navigation, labels, and layout and design. 
• Evaluation and Maintenance: maintenance includes frequent review and updates to ensure it stays up-to-date and to helps drive repeat visitors.

Evaluation Methods and Results:  The overall ACSI satisfaction score for the NCBDDD site went from 82 at baseline to 84 shortly after launch of the new pages.  Notably, the consumer audience segment went from a satisfaction score of 82 to 88. This is remarkable as web pages commonly decline in satisfaction after launch as people adjust to the new organization and design (an increase is not expected until a few months post-launch).  During the same time period, the CDC.gov site overall went from a satisfaction score of 82 to 78.   Additionally, ACSI data also showed two-thirds of visitors said that they are ”likely” or ”very likely” to make a change to their behavior based on the information they found on the NCBDDD site. Qualitative comments further validated the site’s success.  Navigation received rave reviews in usability testing and the new pages showed marked, measurable improvement in categories of  “clean,” “well-organized,” “attractive,” “modern,” “inviting” and “imaginative.” 

Conclusions: 

• The ACSI survey was critical to establish baseline measurement and allowed the team to compare user satisfaction before and after redesign – validating results and measuring success.
• Conducting a card sort with external audiences was critical to establish effective site architecture.
• Testing a variety of types of web pages for various audiences allowed the team to apply findings to additional pages that were not a part of testing, reducing costs while maintain a research focus.
• Testing one page with two different layout designs significantly aided in determining the site’s layout, particularly because re-testing was not possible.
• Conducting testing with even a small number of people is highly beneficial as repeated themes quickly emerged after five or six tests.

Implications for research and/or practice:  Health organizations can benefit from the research and apply it to improve effectiveness of their own websites and encourage behavior change.