NHS Wales Informatics Service |
One standard for 11 NHS Wales websites: making health information easier to find for 3.1 million people
Every NHS Wales health board and trust had its own website, and none was built for mobile. Box UK’s research and design gave NHS Wales one tested standard for its public-facing sites.
11
NHS Wales websites brought to one standard
3.1m
People in Wales the sites are there for
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, and none was optimised for mobile. When NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS) moved to a new CMS, it used the move 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.
- Lab-based usability testing continued as the sites were built.
- A content toolkit helps NHS Wales teams keep content consistent and accessible.
- After launch, the public found the new sites much easier to navigate than the old ones.
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, and the designs were tested before the sites went live.
Phase 1: research and design
We started with a vision workshop with 15 stakeholders, capturing what NHS Wales teams knew about how the existing sites performed, how people used them and what was already working.
We then went directly to the public. Remote usability testing and an online survey, which gathered 490 responses, gave us evidence from a wide range of people quickly and without the cost of lab sessions. Heuristic and analytics reviews of the existing sites produced 26 key findings and showed the journeys, pages and content that mattered most.
Together, the research confirmed what NHS Wales suspected: inconsistent approaches and styles across the sites, duplicated information, and no mobile-optimised experience.
From that evidence, we designed a new information architecture that could work across very different health boards and trusts, and developed it into high-fidelity designs. We tested those 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 worked.
Once the CMS Implementation Board approved the final designs, we turned them into flexible, reusable components for the NWIS team to code and apply across all the sites.
Phase 2: implementation support
As NWIS built the sites, we ran regular one-to-one, lab-based usability sessions through the alpha and beta phases, and fed recommendations straight back into the development cycle. That meant problems were caught during development rather than after launch.
At the same time, we created a Content Management Toolkit for NHS Wales web teams, with a style guide, an editorial calendar and simpler workflows for creating and approving content, so the sites would stay consistent once they were live.
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 must meet the accessibility regulations, which are currently tested against WCAG 2.2 AA. The NHS Wales sites were designed to WCAG 2.1 AA, the standard at the time, 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
Sophie Collins
UX Designer
Do you need help maintaining product quality and business alignment?
Passionate about all things User Experience and Agile, Sophie has worked across the entire software delivery lifecycle.
With a background in Product Ownership and Software Testing, Sophie approaches UX with both pragmatism and quality, focusing on producing results which have value for both businesses and users.
Or call us on 020 7439 1900
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