Overview
Zocdoc was scaling up and needed a blog that would support marketing efforts. The existing blog for doctors had a high bounce rate, was buggy and inflexible for producers to use, and wasn't optimized for strategic marketing actions.
The purpose of this redesign was to create a 'content hub' marketing funnel that would effectively convert traffic and get more business-- the target audience would be Zocdoc’s Practice audience (i.e. medical professionals, receptionists and office managers).
I was one of two UX Designers on the core team, and was responsible for creating high-fidelity wireframes for one of the two concepts delivered. I worked closely with strategists, copy writers and visual designers. I also collaborated with executive stakeholders along the way, and held working sessions to review benchmarks and wireframe iterations.
My process
I looked at best-in-class examples of news websites and blogs, and noted all the different ways these sites engaged users, handled ads, sorted content and prompted discovery. I also conducted user research to get a better understanding of who I was designing for.
By reading usability reports and the segmentation study provided by Zocdoc, I learned that my target users were older, time-crunched experts who prefer sites with limited visual design. This highly specialized audience looks for new information or information that contradicts their existing beliefs. They want content that is easy to scan, factual, and verifiable. (Source: Nielsen Norman Group)
Designing the Article Page
Flexible Toolkits
To ensure that the new article page would be able to accommodate for various types of marketing products that had yet to be defined, I centered the design around toolkits:
'Inset modules kit' gave producers a variety of tools to promote newsletters, white papers and related content early on in the page without disrupting users' reading experience.
'Inline modules kit' gave producers tools to promote related content and products within the article in a timely and attention grabbing way.
'Resource tool kit' gave producers the ability to collect the most important links and resources from an article, and place them at the end of a piece for the users benefit. This tool could also be used to drive to whitepapers.
Engaging the Audience
To capture email subscriptions more effectively, I avoided methods that could potentially annoy users and cause them to leave the site, such as pop-up modules that obstructed content. I tailored my designs to take into account where the user was in their user journey.
For example, if a user has just started reading, they're still deciding if the article is for them. So early-stage callouts needed to be quiet and less obtrusive if we wanted users to remain on the page. However, when a user is midway through, they've already committed to the article and we can use bold engagements.
New Homepage Experience
The new blog needed to feel up-to-date, innovative and strong. However, since this was a new Zocdoc initiative, only one article would be released per week and the lack of content volume put the blog at risk for coming across as dated and stale.
To prevent this, I leveraged the visual impact of full-width images. I created a page layout with articles organized chronologically, and featured the first (newest) and sixth article with full-width headers. By setting up the structure this way, each new article would drastically change the visual language of the page.
I also created interchangeable right rail modules. This gave producers flexibility with what they wanted to promote at the top of the page and helped switch things up visually.
Increasing conversion through authentic discovery.
One of the requirements was to create a "list your practice" CTA for the homepage. However, I knew that any module resembling an ad would be ignored so I looked for a better alternative. As I researched various content marketing tactics, I learned about using stories and testimonials to boost sales. I remembered coming across a page on Zocdoc with customer testimonials when I conducted a content audit earlier, and decided to create an experience that would draw users in more organically.
I surfaced customer testimonials from the "List your practice" page to create emotional appeal, generate social proof and establish credibility. I also created CTAs and action items targeting users at various stages in the buying process:
Related blog posts that might peak the interest of users who aren't interested
Customer testimonials for users that are interested but need more information
"List Your Practice" CTA for users at the last stage (i.e. ready to join)
More Touchpoints
I also created features on the homepage to encourage users to engage and discover content:
Interactive subtopics module to give users a way to dig deeper into a popular subtopic (e.g. social media for marketing)
'Quick Reads' and 'Highlights' section to give users more ways to discover relevant content
'About Us' section to teach new users about the blog and how to use it
End Result
I delivered the high fidelity wireframes for my homepage and article concept (desktop and mobile) to Kettle at the end of my contract term. I worked with the Zocdoc team leading up to final design and they were very happy with the approach. The designs were scheduled for one more round of iteration before they were finalized and art direction applied.