SOC Telemed
SOC (Specialists on Call) Telemed was a nationwide leader in the emerging field of acute telemedicine. In 2021, SOC Telemed acquired Access Physicians to solidify its market position in the acute care telehealth space, where it expanded to nearly 1,000 facilities and more than 700 hospitals across 47 states. In 2022, a private capital firm purchased SOC for $300 million dollars. The following case study focuses on the work I did with the brand from 2017-2021, when I worked as the design director with the Trevelino/Keller team to refresh the SOC brand, redesign its website, and improve the overall user experience.
DETAILS:
BRAND IDENTITY, WEBSITE REDESIGN
Role:
Design director
*Award Winner, Branding, Logo Design
Logo & Brand Identity:
SOC initially approached Trevelino/Keller for a brand refresh, focusing on a new logo. I was chosen to be design director on the project due to my branding expertise and experience in the healthcare field. After extensive market research, my team presented a new brand identity to the client that was simple, colorful and contemporary — and that surpassed its competitors’ visual identities. I created a brand guide that included guidance on logo use, typography, colors, icons, and imagery. Our client loved its new identity system so much that it engaged Trevelino/Keller again, this time for a website redesign including a user-experience audit.
Website Challenges:
During the brand redesign, I established a great personal relationship with this client. SOC felt that while their visual identity was strong, it failed to measure up to its competition in sales and marketplace reputation. SOC had also received persistent user feedback that its website was confusing and difficult to use. So when SOC asked if my team could dig into the user experience of their website and propose a redesign, of course I said “yes.” Then I immediately went home and Googled “user experience design.”
While I had no formal training in UX design, the research methods are systematic, so I was able to self-teach to a degree. I was also lucky to have Alexandra Gardner, a well-known UX researcher and close friend, consult on the project. With Alex’s advice, I conducted a heuristic analysis of the website and discovered design incongruity, broken links, disorganized information architecture, navigation overload, ambiguous calls to action, and low text contrast all attributed to user-accessibility issues. My most important finding was that the top-selling product was not featured on the homepage, which limited product discoverability.
Process:
My favorite part of the project by far was streamlining design. I developed the homepage redesign while working with our developer team to produce multiple iterations based on user surveys. I implemented a new information architecture for the homepage that featured highly accessible segment-specific data. I also created a scalable design system that standardized layout, color, font, and reusable components. My team also optimized the site for video and I worked with our partner Luxeve Media to produce a high-quality brand video.
After stage one of the launch, I conducted further analysis of internal pages, which the client wished to build out on its own due to budgeting. I put together a guide that included ongoing UX recommendations, design notes, and UI guidelines.
Results:
My goal for this project was to create a visually attractive and intuitive website that would scale with SOC’s growth. I wanted to optimize the site to be functional, fast, and efficient at every user interaction. I also wanted to clarify the service offerings on the homepage by simplifying the layout, creating a flexible user path, and removing unnecessary design components.
Finally, I wanted to create a consistent, nuanced, and thoughtfully designed UI that utilizes white space, brighter visuals, and carefully curated imagery to create a modern and innovative personality.
Using the UserTesting Human Insight Platform, I conducted 5 one-on-one interviews with doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators during beta testing. Speaking to these groups individually helped me gain empathy and insight into segment-specific challenges for the medical industry, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. This allowed me to identify and address pain points early in the process.
After the redesign, SOC saw a 32% increase in site traffic.
“I have partnered with Rose at two companies over the course of 5 years. Her team at Trevelino/Keller helped us scale up and supercharge our lean in-house team with UX, content, creative, and overall marketing expertise. They have been an integral part of growing our marketing initiatives and brand.”
– SOC TELEMED
Credits —
Studio: Trevelino/Keller
UX Consult: Alexandra Gardner
Video Production: Luxeve Media
Client: SOC Telemed