Seasons of Life Supportive Care
www.seasonsoflifesupport.com
Project Overview – Understanding information during difficult times
In this opportunity, I created a basic responsive web-page using HTML/CSS/JavaScript for a Seasons of Life Supportive Care. My client is a physical therapist transitioning to independent work as a death doula. My client is now providing physical therapy, safety at home and end-of-life (death doula) services. The goals for this website were that it be simple, approachable and streamlined.
Timeline
This project took 7 weeks from start to completion.
Team
I worked directly with the client and fulfilled the role of website designer/developer.
Process and Design Decisions
Persona
My client and I had an in depth initial meeting to determine what information to express, the best way in which to express it and the best page placement of each section. We discussed user flows and specifically considered the mindset of the users who would be reviewing this website. This persona was developed to establish a feel for my client’s primary user. This person will likely be a family member or caretaker of an individual entering the end of their life and will likely be experiencing feelings of grief and overwhelm.
User Journey
With this information in mind, I wanted the user to be able to flow easily through the page as a straight-forward journey. On the first page, the user is able to read all services offered by Ms. Roberts and reach out to her via email to initiate further communication. Ms. Roberts prefers that her business be primarily through word of mouth with previous clients, so she did not want extensive contact information available.
Specific Request
In order to keep the page simple, users are directed to a seperate page to read about Ms. Roberts. At this time there is no photograph of her. This was chosen by Ms. Roberts and her mentor as they were concerned about grieving families experiencing negative connection with an image as opposed to connecting with Ms. Roberts in person.
Additional Interesting Design Considerations
The images used are Ms. Roberts’ own personal photographs. Her nature photography is a very important expression of her connection to spirituality and loved ones who have passed. My client supplied me with a variety of images. I chose each intentionally to balance color and texture throughout the page. They are individually dedicated her loved ones who have inspired her and passed away.
Outcomes and Lessons
The Seasons of Life Supportive Care website is launched and functioning well as my client begins her business. I believe a user study is warranted as Ms. Roberts grows her business to review the following:
- Functionality of the flow
- To consider what, if any, additional information would be helpful for new users
- To determine if a photograph of Ms. Roberts would be a positive addition to the site for users to make a visual connection with her prior to beginning services.
Retrospective Consideration and Growth: This was my first freelance project. The design was intended to provide ease of navigation through the page by placing a button at the end of each section which, when pressed, leads into the section below. With more experience and education, I understand that this is actually a friction point and slows the user from easily scrolling through the page. Upon redesign, I would remove those buttons and provide only basic scrolling functionality to review the information down through the page.