NHS Wales Informatics Service |
One standard for 11 NHS Wales websites: making health information easier to find for 3.1 million people
Every health board and trust in Wales had its own website, with its own structure, look and navigation, and none worked properly on a phone. Box UK led the research and design that gave NHS Wales a single, tested standard for its public-facing sites.
11
NHS Wales websites brought to one standard
3.1m
People in Wales served
490
survey responses from the public
26
usability findings from the UX review
In short
- NHS Wales had 11 public-facing websites, each built and structured differently.
- None offered a mobile-optimised experience.
- NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS) used a move to a new CMS to create one standard for all of them.
- Box UK researched the existing sites with stakeholders, a public survey, usability tests and analytics.
- We designed and tested a common information architecture and reusable components.
- A content toolkit helps NHS Wales teams keep content consistent and accessible.
Customer Background
The NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS), now Digital Health and Care Wales, designs and builds digital services for health and care in Wales. It works on a “Once for Wales” model: build something once and use it across the country, rather than each health board doing its own.
NHS Wales websites are a key entry point for the 3.1 million people in Wales looking for information about health and care services.
The Challenge
On behalf of the CMS Implementation Board, NWIS asked Box UK to help consolidate the public-facing websites of NHS Wales health boards, trusts, special health authorities and hosted national organisations, starting with 11 sites.
Each had a different structure, look and approach. Information was duplicated. And there was no mobile-optimised experience, even though many people look up health information on their phones. A person moving from one health board’s site to another’s had to learn a new site every time.
Our Approach
We recommended splitting the work into two phases, so the evidence was in place before anything was designed.
Phase 1: research and design.
We ran a vision workshop with 15 stakeholders, then went directly to the public with remote usability testing and an online survey that gathered 490 responses. Heuristic and analytics reviews of the existing sites produced 26 key findings and identified the most important journeys, pages and content.
From that evidence we designed a new information architecture and high-fidelity designs, then tested them with members of the public through guerrilla testing. Because almost anyone uses NHS services, testing with a broad, unselected group of people was the right way to check the designs.
Phase 2: implementation support.
Once the CMS Implementation Board approved the designs, we supported the NWIS team as they built the sites.
What we Delivered
- A common information architecture and navigation that works across very different health boards and trusts
- Flexible, reusable design components handed to NWIS to code and implement across all the sites
- A mobile-first experience, addressing the lack of mobile support on the old sites.
- A Content Management Toolkit for NHS Wales web teams: a style guide, an editorial calendar, and simpler workflows for content governance.
Throughout alpha and beta development, we ran regular one-to-one, lab-based usability sessions on the sites as they were built, and fed recommendations straight back into the development cycle. That meant problems were caught during development rather than after launch.
The designs also had to meet WCAG 2.1 AA and satisfy stakeholders from several separate NHS bodies, each with its own identity.
The Outcome
- A consistent experience across NHS Wales websites, whichever health board or trust a person visits
- Better navigation. A post-launch re-evaluation found the public found the new sites much easier to navigate than the old ones.
- Accessible by design, confirmed through external accessibility testing.
- Lower running costs, with one standard to maintain instead of 11 different approaches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Start with evidence from every organisation and its users, then design a shared structure and components that each can use. For NHS Wales, that meant a common information architecture and reusable components applied across 11 sites.
Quick, informal testing with members of the public rather than a recruited panel. It suited NHS Wales because almost anyone might use its websites.
Test the build as it happens. We ran lab-based usability sessions throughout the NHS Wales sites’ alpha and beta phases and fed findings straight into development.
UK public sector websites are required to meet WCAG AA. The NHS Wales sites were designed to WCAG 2.1 AA and checked by external accessibility testing.
For NHS Wales: a content style guide, an editorial calendar and simplified workflows for creating and approving content.
What this means
For your organisation
If your organisation has several websites that grew up separately, whether across regions, departments or merged bodies, your users feel the inconsistency even if you don’t. Each one takes effort to maintain, and each one works a little differently.
That’s common across health, local government and national bodies. If you’re consolidating sites or moving to a new CMS, send us a few lines about the sites and who uses them. We’ll tell you what the research should cover before design starts.
Talk to one of our digital experts
Tom Houdmont
Chief Technology Officer
Do you have an idea or a project you need support with?
Tom is CTO at Box UK, with 12 years’ experience helping clients deliver ambitious digital products. His background spans Solution Architecture, Front End Development and AI adoption, with particular expertise in high-traffic websites that perform reliably at scale and in embedding AI into delivery practice.
Or call us on 020 7439 1900
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