University Tennessee Medical Center

The project stemmed from a personal connection: Tombras President Dooley Tombras, whose father received treatment at UTMC, wanted to "give back" by revitalizing the center's identity and online presence. This aligned with UTMC's mission to provide timely, accessible healthcare information, transforming a outdated site into a modern, self-manageable platform.
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University Tennessee Medical Center
Service
Web Design
Date
2021
Client
University Tennessee Medical Center
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The Challenge

UTMC's existing website, built on Drupal by a previous agency, was cumbersome and inflexible—requiring external interventions for even minor edits. This bottleneck proved disastrous during the COVID-19 era, delaying vital updates on protocols, vaccinations, and patient resources. The brand team had already executed a full identity refresh (e.g., new logos, color palettes, typography evoking trust and compassion), and the digital team was tasked with embodying this in a functional site. Key requirements: AAA compliance for accessibility (e.g., WCAG 2.1 standards for color contrast, keyboard navigation, alt text), seamless migration to Gutenberg/WordPress for client empowerment, and a design that prioritized user navigation for diverse audiences (patients, families, staff).

Key pain points:

  • Content Bottlenecks: Agency-dependent updates slowed crisis response, risking misinformation or outdated info.
  • Accessibility Gaps: Non-compliant elements excluded users with disabilities, violating healthcare equity standards.
  • Brand Inconsistency: Pre-overhaul site didn't reflect the new "compassionate, reliable" identity, eroding trust.
  • Scalability Issues: Lacked modular components, making expansions (e.g., new service pages) labor-intensive.
  • User Frustration: Poor navigation led to high bounce rates and difficulty finding critical info like appointment scheduling or emergency guidelines.

The brief emphasized a user-centric redesign that empowered UTMC's team to publish independently while maintaining brand cohesion and top-tier accessibility.

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My Design Approach

Building on the brand team's new identity elements (e.g., soothing blues/greens for calm, sans-serif fonts for readability), I collaborated with UX and content strategists to architect a component-based system tailored for scalability and compliance. We conducted audits of the old site and user interviews (e.g., 30+ patients/staff) to map pain points, focusing on mobile-first design given healthcare's on-the-go needs. Emphasis: AAA standards from the start—e.g., 4.5:1 contrast ratios, semantic HTML, ARIA labels—to avoid retrofits.

Key Design Phases:

  1. Site Mapping & Component Design: Identified core pages (e.g., Home, Services, Patient Resources, COVID Hub) and built a library of reusable Gutenberg blocks (e.g., hero banners, accordions, service cards).
  2. Brand Integration: Translated identity into digital—e.g., compassionate imagery with accessible overlays, responsive grids for varying content types.
  3. Accessibility Focus: Iterated prototypes with tools like Axe, ensuring screen reader compatibility and keyboard flows; designed "strategic pages" (e.g., homepage, search results) as templates for client guidance.
  4. Prototyping & Testing: Created Figma prototypes; ran 2–3 usability rounds with diverse users (including those with impairments) to refine navigation.
  5. Handoff & Training: Delivered specs to devs; included client guides for building new pages, enabling self-sufficiency.

The result was a lightweight, compliant site that felt empathetic and intuitive, with components allowing quick assembly of new content without code.

University Tennessee Medical Center

Results & Impact

Launched amid ongoing COVID demands, the redesigned site transformed UTMC's digital operations, with immediate feedback validating its efficacy.

Key Metrics & Feedback:

  • User Navigation Improvements: Patients reported 40–50% easier access to information (per post-launch surveys), with reduced support tickets for "can't find" queries.
  • Client Empowerment: UTMC team praised the Gutenberg setup for enabling same-day updates—e.g., COVID protocol changes—without agency reliance, cutting turnaround from weeks to hours.
  • Accessibility Wins: Full AAA compliance boosted inclusivity, with zero flagged issues in audits; Enhanced trust and equity for diverse users.
  • Engagement Uplift: Site traffic stabilized during peaks, with lower bounce rates (~25% drop) and higher time-on-site for key pages.
  • Business Alignment: Strengthened UTMC's brand perception as modern and responsive; Set a foundation for expansions like telehealth integrations.
University Tennessee Medical Center

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