Marie Curie is dedicated to improving end-of-life experiences for as many people as possible, regardless of their illness. The charity supports anyone facing a terminal condition, along with their loved ones. It offers free palliative and end-of-life care, alongside trusted information and compassionate support. In addition to providing direct services, Marie Curie advocates for better end-of-life care across the UK and funds vital research into palliative care.
The Challenge
When I joined the Marie Curie digital product team, they had been without a dedicated UX Designer for a long time. They had an incredible team of developers, data specialists, and product experts, but there was no cohesive UX strategy or methods in place.
There was also a distinct issue with consistency of design across their site, which comprised many, many pages. This made navigation problematic, as expected functionality could change from page to page.
The core navigation had been added to over time, so key user journeys were lost in the process.
The users of their website were extremely varied, though slightly skewed towards an older audience, because of the nature of end-of-life care. The usability of the site did not support the incredible work the charity does, as it was confused and hard to locate important information.
The Process
Before starting on the redesign of their core navigation, I laid out a process to follow:
• Carry out UX theory audit and map out current site
• Analyse Glassbox and Google Analytics data
• Identify themes and issues
• Identify pinnacle user stories
• Provide redesign of top navigation
• Provide redesign of key pages
• Focus on mobile first
Bonus Benefits
The whole site was due to be completely rebuilt a year later, so this interim solution needed to be built efficiently and provide some bonus benefits. It would give the next design team:
• Current mapping and grouping (gave the team a headstart)
• Processes proven (tested how we can better apply our disciplines)
• Key data on more reflective user journeys (a user-centered approach to our services)
• Disprove or prove assumptions (understand our users better)
Site mapping and UX Audit
Before creating the full navigation map, I carried out a heuristic analysis which included:
Interaction feedback
Critical user journeys (surfacing essential information)
Navigability and ease of orientation
Alignment with established usability conventions (e.g. button placement)
Consistency across the site
Clarity and brevity of copy
Effectiveness of error messaging
Mobile versus desktop performance
Data exploration
I analysed data from Glassbox and Google Analytics to identify:
Funnels
Scroll depths
Clickthrough rates
Visitors to unique pages
Onward journeys
Redesign
I created user journey maps and wireframes for every aspect of the new navigation layout and every key landing page.
Other key achievements:
Other achievements during the six month contract at Marie Curie include:
Building designs for their Leave a Legacy campaign
Developing the Marie Curie UX framework and strategy (ensuring it was in line with the wider organisational strategy: Develop the patient/public user end-of-life experience through innovative digital solutions)
Designing new features and optimisations via user stories, user journeys, flow diagrams, information architecture, mockups and prototypes
Introducing right-sized UX best practices that included thorough design documentation and inter-disciplinary communication
Implementing a prioritised UX backlog
Analysing Google Analytics and Glassbox data to find trends in issues
Optimising design for a wide range of devices and interfaces
Conducting usability tests and user research, analysing collated data and making informed design decisions
Working closely with data specialists to ensure design decisions are based on truthful data and needs
The Result
Since leaving Marie Curie, the website has undergone a complete redesign, emerging with a sleek, highly intuitive user interface. During the transitional period leading up to the rebuild, the work I delivered played a crucial role in maintaining a seamless user experience—ensuring visitors could still access essential information without disruption, something for which users who are facing end-of-life care or supporting someone who is, is incredibly important.