Summary
I created a responsive website with concise content to help a health research team present their project in the best light.
Details
Background: A team of researchers based at Vancouver General Hospital are studying how to improve medication safety. Working on large, federally funded grants, they collaborate with stakeholders to research and design technologies to better report, share and use drug information within the healthcare system.
Challenge: When I joined the team as a research assistant, I noticed that the project didn’t have a unified image or name, and lacked a platform to share information about the project with its stakeholders or interested parties.
The team was looking for ways to more effectively communicate the importance of their work to key decision-maker audiences, and also create an accessible resource to provide information about the project.
Actions: I took the initiative to plan, design and set up a project website and communications materials for our team from scratch (managing hosting/domain requirements, content planning, graphic assets, copywriting and SEO).
This included working closely with the team to craft a project name, key messages, and communication goals. I chose WordPress as the website’s content management system and trained other team members to ensure they could maintain the site long-term.
I also conducted user-experience testing with patient partners and defined the information architecture to better direct visitors to strategic areas such as ADE case studies and project summaries.
Results: The team loved having a resource to share with interested parties and received excellent feedback from diverse audiences. In the year and a half I maintained the website, traffic increased steadily and the site became well ranked for search engine key terms. By generating interest in the project, we were invited to write for related health publications.
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Christine Ackerley 