Improving the discovery of UHN clinical and research support
Making it easier for researchers, learners and clinicians to find the services and resources they need.
My Role
Lead designer
Team
4 designers
Tools
Figma, FigJam, Miro,
Optimal Workshop
Timeline
4 months
Project type
Master's capstone
What did I work on?
As part of my Master’s capstone project, I led the redesign of the UHN Virtual Library, a critical digital resource serving clinicians, researchers, staff, and learners at University Health Network.
In a team of four designers, I redesigned a 100+ page website to improve access to services and resources. I conducted interviews and card sorting sessions, then validated the new site structure through usability testing and tree testing, achieving a 92.5% task completion rate.
Overview
Our design process
Over a period of 4 months, I led my team through a user-focused design process to improve the library’s digital experience.
01/ Discover
Stakeholder interviews with library team
Interviews with clinicians and researchers
02/ Define
Card sorting tasks with end users
Information architecture redesign
03/ Ideate
Brainstorming design workshops
Sketching
Low/mid-fidelity wireframes
04/ Prototype and test
Prototyping in Figma
Conducting usability testing with end users
Tree testing
Stakeholder interviews
Understanding the problem space, the platform constraints, and initial assumptions
We began by interviewing 8 members of the library team to gain a deeper understanding of the problem and project constraints.
Library staff shared their assumption that users struggled to find key resources due to inconsistent navigation, unclear terminology, and cluttered layout issues. Through user research, we aimed to validate these assumptions and uncover additional factors that may impact the discoverability of library’s resources and services.
Primary research
What do UHN users struggle with during their research and clinical journeys?
We interviews UHN researchers and clinicians. The first part of the session was a semi-structured interview where participants reflected on their experiences with seeking support during their clinical and research journeys. In the second half, we did light usability testing by providing users with tasks to complete on the current website, such as finding contact information, using research guides, and locating clinical tools.
We analyzed our findings using Miro and identified several key themes:
Unaware of available support
Many users express a general lack of awareness about the website itself. One student researcher at UHN said, "We all know that a library exists, but we often don't see it as an active thing that can really help you or support you.”
Hesitation to reach out for help
First-time users often express hesitation when it comes to reaching out for library support. However, one participant mentioned that "because I don't know anyone personally, I probably wouldn't contact for support."
Difficulty finding key resources
Participants, particularly healthcare professionals, reported difficulty locating essential resources quickly, especially at the point-of-care. Key issues include the use of unfamiliar or unclear terms and vague categorization of navigation items.
Overwhelming content in research guides
Content-heavy research guides made it hard for users to find relevant information efficiently. The lack of subheadings and sections make it difficult for users to identify information that is relevant to their work and research.
Research Analysis
What are the current experiences with seeking library support?
When researchers needed support most, they struggled to find it.
Clinicians need quick access to 1:1 support so that they can focus on patient care.
Information architecture
Improving the information architecture with card sorting
We ran 10–15 minute card sorting sessions with 4 end users using OptimalSort. These sessions helped us understand how users naturally group content, revealing mental models we used to guide the navigation redesign.
Based on these insights, we restructured the site’s navigation. In subsequent usability testing round, users achieved an 92.5% task success rate with the improved navigation. Some changes include:
Design & Prototype
How did we improve the homepage?
After restructuring the information architecture, we redesigned key pages of the website to improve access to support and discoverability of library resources. With the redesign of the homepage, we wanted to make users feel empowered by the library resources available to them.
Before
After
The homepage positions the library as an active source of support.
We organized resources by task rather than by identity-based labels, making it easier for users to find what they needed based on what they were trying to do, regardless of their role.
We also highlighted workshops and research guides to position the library as a space for learning and encourage exploration beyond 1:1 consultations.
Design & Prototype
How did we make it easier to find support?
From our interviews, we learned that users feel hesitant to reach out due to a lack of clarity around who to contact and how. Therefore, we redesigned the contact page so that users clearly understand the available support options.
Before
After
The revised contact page aims to make users feel more confident about reaching out.
We designed a cleaner layout that clearly presents multiple support options so users can choose the method that feels most comfortable to them.
To support users who felt hesitant about emailing directly, we added additional context and offered alternatives like asynchronous contact forms.
Design & Prototype
03/ How did we solve the issue of inconsistent navigation?
In the previous website, research guides were scattered across various sections, making them difficult to discover. These guides used a nested “guide within a guide” structure, where the main library site (built on LibGuides) acted as the parent, and each individual guide had its own unique navigation. This led to inconsistent menus, disrupted user flow, and caused confusion when users were unexpectedly presented with different navigation systems.
We proposed a solution of created a decoupled "home page" for all research guides:
We created a centralized place for research guides to make them easier to find and use.
With this solution, we decoupled the guides from the main website to avoid confusion caused by changing navigation menus.
This also gives the library the flexibility to expand its collection of research guides without overcrowding the main site navigation.
We improved in-page navigation in research guides to make content more digestible
We added subheading navigation so users can quickly jump to the sections most relevant to them, making it easier to find the information they need without unnecessary scrolling.
“If I know the UHN website has been changed from the original website to this, I would definitely use it more…it feels much easier to find the resources that I'm looking for.”
— Researcher at UHN
"
The project team's process and product exceeded our expectations. Faith led her group through two sets of interviews, a series of user tests, wireframe development, and stakeholder engagement. Her user-driven mindset was evident as she consistently strived to understand the experiences of users, including the nuances of the healthcare context within which our department operates…Their final recommendations exceeded our expectations and will have practical applications for us moving forward.
— Director, UHN Library Services
Concluding remarks
Reflections on the project
My biggest challenge was…
Given the sheer scale of the website, we had to learn to strategically prioritize which pages warranted full custom redesigns versus those that could use standardized templates.
If I had more time…
I would have wanted to delve deeper into the experiences of clinician-researchers, who represent a hybrid user group with distinct needs that differ from pure clinicians or researchers.
My biggest takeaway was…
I learned the value of engaging with stakeholders from the very beginning. Before we even delved into user interviews, we spent 1-2 weeks conducting in-depth 1:1 interviews with members of the library team. These interviews really helped shape our research questions and helped us identify which user pain points were actually solvable within the organization's capacity.
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