Right from the beginning of the process, it was clear that in order to create an information structure that worked for the organization as a whole, everyone would need to understand the importance of each other’s stake in the content on the Web site. Once there was an across-the-board understanding of the key pieces and groups of information on the site, it would be easier to implement structural changes that made sense to the organization as a whole.
Buy-in needed to occur at a high level early on. From the beginning of this project, I saw an opportunity to use many of the teaching and group-participation skills I learned as a Peace Corp volunteer in Ukraine. Not surprisingly, much of what I used to engage individuals, generate discussions and create ideas actually worked better in a roomful of SHM staff than it did in a classroom packed with hormone driven teenagers who were more interested in knowing if I personally knew Britney Spears than speaking English.
The initial brainstorming and idea-gathering sessions we held laid a solid foundation for restructuring the site’s navigation and information architecture, making it easier to navigate and more engaging for the end-user.
In the end, brute force, hard work, and group collaboration got the job done. Without the contribution and dedication of countless members of the SHM staff and community, this project would not have become a reality.
SHM now boasts a site that is cleaner, easier to navigate, and better showcases SHM’s role as the heart of the hospital medicine movement. A Web site, like many other things in life, is always a work in progress. But we feel confident that what you see today is a significant improvement over its predecessor.
Stop by www.hospitalmedicine.org to check out the result of this organization-wide effort. Comments and suggestions are always welcome as we continue to strive to improve the user experience. E-mail me at [email protected].