The problem
Brittany Presley
Psychotherapy, LLC. Project
For this project, I worked with an interface designer to create a website for my private practice. I performed the research, strategy, and content writing for the site.
Link to live site
Brittany Presley Psychotherapy, LLC. needs a website for potential and current clients to schedule consultations, appointments, and to learn more information about services.
I am a psychotherapist that specializes in ADHD. The majority of my clients have one, two, or all of the following diagnosis: ADHD, Autism, and anxiety disorders.
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Many people with these diagnoses need very literal and explicit instructions. Additionally, if they are performing a new task or process for the first time it may take a longer amount of time than expected to understand the process and perform the task.
Since scheduling a consultation or intake session is not a process that will need to be repeated often or even ever again, a person will not have the opportunity to get comfortable performing that task. Therefore, I’d like to make the process of setting up a consultation to arriving at their first appointment as easy as possible to understand the first time.
Users & Audience
The users of this site are people looking for information about therapy or people looking to book an appointment with this specific therapist.
Meet Emily
Interviews
I interviewed users to learn about their experiences setting up their first therapy appointment. I used affinity mapping to organize the information collected in interviews.
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The research was organized into 3 categories:
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searching for information to set up a consultation
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process of setting up their first appointment
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arriving at their first appointment
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The research showed that users want to talk to a therapist before scheduling an appointment and they would like details about what to expect in the process leading up to their first session.
How might we help users understand the process of setting up an appointment for therapy?
Competitor Analysis
Summit Counseling Center
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Before going into private practice, I worked at Summit Counseling Center for many years. At the time, they did not have any online scheduling options. There was a lot of information on their website about mental health, resources, and events. In regards to scheduling an appointment, the only information presented was the phone number to the counseling center. When a person called the counseling center they spoke with a staff member that schedules appointments but isn't able to speak with a therapist directly to verify they are a good fit. Their paperwork had to be printed, filled out by hand, and brought into the their first session which was their first time ever talking with the therapist. This created a lot of unnecessary stress for clients.
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Design suggestion:
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Explain the process of therapy on their site
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Offer online scheduling and clinical forms accepted through a platform on their site
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Offer consultations to speak directly with therapists
Product
Outcome
User Interface Design
I did not create the design for this website though I provided strategic insight. The interface design is simple and clean since the goal of the site is create clarity and ease.
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Usability tests for this product were conducted by the interface designer.
Content and Strategy
The goal of the site is to help users easily navigate setting up a consultation and know what to expect from there. Information was purposefully repeated in several places on the site. For example, information about pricing and types of therapy are listed in both "children + adolescents" and "adults" sections because a user is likely looking for help in only one of those areas and therefore would only read the section that is applicable to them. There are several schedule buttons strategically placed throughout the site so users don't have to scroll to top, bottom, or a different page to schedule.
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One of the changes I made throughout the process was removing the detailed directions to the office from the website contact page. When clients schedule an appointment through the site, they are sent an automated email confirming their appointment and then later are sent a reminder email. Both emails include detailed instructions on how to get to the office and what to do upon arrival. Clients are more likely to refer to their email than to revisit the site for directions, and removing them made the contact page look cleaner.