Summary
A research group affiliated with NYU Langone had a partially finished website and needed help with the next steps. My audit led to the site’s redesign.
Role: Conducted and presented the site audits. Sole UI/UX designer for the redesign.
NYU UX/UI Audit & Redesign
The problem
The Food Environment and Policy Coalition, a research group affiliated with NYU Langone, was in the process of building a site that would share their research for other researchers to use and help influence policymakers. The group didn’t have branding, the name was still in progress, and they were overstretched procuring grants and conducting research. And, the outside developer building the site had reached their limit and couldn’t make any more improvements. The effort hit a standstill and they needed movement to achieve their goals of creating positive change related to food and nutrition.
The homepage before the redesign.
The solution
The project started as a site audit only to find where improvements in the current build could be made. I reviewed the site and offered two goals for the site that involved enhancing its content strategy and design goals. The former proposed improvements in storytelling and communications with their audiences, and the latter focused on navigation, hierarchy, legibility, and accessibility.
Follow the image links to see the full content audit and design audit.
This work helped the agency win a project for the visual redesign of the site. Another UXer interviewed stakeholders, and we hosted a workshop to derive the new project goals. In wanting to change food policy for the better, the site would better connect policymakers and media to researchers and present research in a friendly, easy-to-navigate space. And to be recognized as an authority on food policy, the site would be approachable and present information in a unified voice.
A piece of the element collage for the research group showing new typography, colors, and a temporary logo.
I was inspired by the personalities of the group members and created an element collage to match. It had free variable typography that balances friendly approachability with authoritative research and an accessible color palette that could be used in other mediums like social media. They were looking to expand more into the social realm, and I wanted to give them fun pairing options for future shared content. I also created an icon set from the Material Library to represent their research areas.
Zoom around in the window or go to the Figma board.
The page designs were presented in batches. Since the team was always strapped for time, the site needed to be as self-monitoring as possible. Pages contained components and structures that automated interactivity so the group could concentrate on their research. The designs also featured content strategy prompts to help guide their content creation when the site is built. After a few minor revisions, the components and page types were broken down and specced out for future developers working on the site.
The result
The client was pleased with the work and often surprised at the level of thoughtfulness in the designs. (It is the only time a client has claimed to have almost cried from being so moved from the designs. That was a hallmark day.) The new site is currently waiting for development.
