7 Patient-Centric User Experience Tips That Drastically Improve Your Healthcare Website

The technological age requires every business or organization to create and maintain an online presence. This is especially true for the pharma and biotechnology companies and others in the biomedical industry, as people are constantly searching for reliable sources of information about their health and wellness and emerging technologies.

Every segment of the biomedical industry is crucial and holds vital information for public consumption. Relaying that information in a seamless, innovative way can have a significant impact on the success of your business. You will likely attract more patients, increase brand awareness and establish your business as a thought leader in your field.

By finding key ways to improve the user experience, including optimizing your website for search engines, adopting a patient-centric design approach, and offering valuable informative content you can unlock a wide range of benefits that positions your healthcare organization for success.

In this article, we will explore the key benefits of improving your biomedical website and provide practical tips for optimization to ensure you reap the rewards.

What’s Happening in the Industry

The biomedical industry is divided into four main segments, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices, and diagnostics companies. Innovation is at the core of this industry converging with technological developments in other scientific fields.

The industry’s focus has been to :

1. Improve discovery throughout a structured collaborative effort
2. Increase therapeutic value and medical benefit by targeting the right population
3. Address cost-effectiveness and demonstrate global healthcare expenses reduction

The biotech industry is projected to grow annually by 13.9% between 2022 and 2030. Grandview Research indicated that “the market is driven by strong government support through initiatives aimed at modernization of regulatory framework, improvements in approval processes & reimbursement policies, as well as standardization of clinical studies. Adding that the growing foothold of personalized medicine and an increasing number of orphan drug formulations are opening new avenues for biotechnology applications and are driving the influx of emerging and innovative biotechnology companies, further boosting the market revenue.”

Statistica also reported significant growth and projected growth for the global pharmaceutical industry. Grandview Research corroborated this growth indicating that The global pharmaceutical manufacturing market size was valued at USD 405.52 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.34% from 2021 to 2028. All the while undergoing massive operational changes related to supply chain management, which is still happening.

Population increase plays an important role in the growth of these industries. Hence the need for more responsive and patient-centric designs. The healthcare industry in general has been gravitating towards designs that identify and address the ongoing needs of their patient population.

Regardless of the industry and offering, all biomedical websites need to relay their messaging with clarity focusing on patient needs. Moreover, because of their public interest, some key areas should be taken into consideration and clearly communicated as it relates to the overall mission and vision of the company.

What is patient-centric design?

Patient-centric design is an approach to designing healthcare products, services, and systems that focus on meeting the needs, preferences, and experiences of patients. The goal of patient-centric design is to improve patient outcomes, satisfaction, and engagement by involving patients in the design process and creating healthcare solutions that are tailored to their unique needs.

Patient-centric design involves several key principles, including:

1. Empathy: Understanding the patient’s perspective, needs, and challenges, and designing solutions that address them.
2. Co-creation: Engaging patients and healthcare providers in the design process to ensure that solutions are relevant, effective, and user-friendly.
3. Accessibility: Designing solutions that are accessible and easy to use for all patients, regardless of their age, ability, or technology literacy.
4. Personalization: Creating solutions that are tailored to the individual needs and preferences of each patient.
5. Continuity: Designing solutions that support continuity of care and seamless transitions between different healthcare settings.

The biomedical industry can learn much by adopting a patient-centric approach in its website design. But this can only happen when you have done the necessary work to improve your user experience.

A website is the first place that most people go for information. If the website has poor outlines, sparse information or no clear messaging then reaching the right audience may prove problematic. In addition to messaging, technical, security, usability, content, and accessibility issues, pose additional setbacks for your website. Here is a guide to learning more about improving your user experience and conversion rate.

What Happens When You Improve Your Website?

Working with some key players in the industry, such as Broad Institute and Whitehead Institute, allowed WDB to create modern, innovative user experiences that effectively and efficiently relayed their messaging and story. The creative process goes well beyond a meet and greet. Dissecting the core of the organization’s offering, with the vision they are working closely towards helps to narrow down some of the fundamentals of delivering an innovative web experience.

Your web presence might be failing and you may not know. While you focus on science and development, you might be unintentionally ignoring some important areas like your website.

Similar to looking under a microscope, there are things that you would not be able to immediately identify by just visiting a website. Of course, aesthetics and messaging are dead-center but there are other important details that could be affecting your website’s efficiency.

An audit should reveal some of the major issues that you could be experiencing such as a lower number of incoming inquiries from interested parties, how visitors interact with your content, or if you are producing valuable content, giving them a reason to return for more information.

On the surface, you may believe your website is functioning as it should. To be fair, it might be, but do we think there is some room for improvement?

Always…

Improving your biomedical website’s user experience and overall functionality can offer several benefits. Here we put together a few that you might find useful:

1. Increased visibility and reach

You can increase your website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) by improving your website’s search engine optimization (SEO). This can help more people find your website and learn about your biotech services. Visibility also impacts brand awareness. The more visitors you have on your website, the more people know who you are and what you do.

2. Enhanced credibility

The biomedical industry is growing at a rapid pace. Standing out in this crowd is of the utmost priority. A well-designed and informative website can help establish your credibility as an expert in your field. By providing accurate and up-to-date information about your services, you can instill trust in potential patients or partners.

3. Better patient-centric user experience

How you tell your story matters; especially on your website. A website that is easy to navigate and explore with valuable information, can improve the user experience for visitors. This can help keep visitors engaged and encourage them to study more of your site. A better user experience makes your website and brand memorable.

4. Improved lead generation

One of your main goals is to turn a visitor into a patient, active supporter, or investor. By optimizing your website’s calls-to-action (CTAs) and contact forms based on user intent, you can improve your lead-generation efforts. This can help you attract more potential patients, and investors, and increase conversion rates.

5. Competitive advantage

Appearance matters but so does substance. In the biomedical industry, information is key to attracting and maintaining the right support. A well-designed and optimized website can help you stand out from your competitors. By offering a better user experience and more valuable information, you can differentiate your services and attract more business.

Tips for a Greater Web Experience

Several factors contribute to a great web user experience for biomedical companies. While we do not recommend you go at it alone, it is always a plus to understand what needs fixing and how. Working hand-in-hand with your IT team to identify and correct some of the main areas should be on your list. But, if you don’t have an IT team, with over 15 years of experience in the web development industry WDB might be a great partnership to have.

Here are some tips to consider to improve your website’s user experience:

1. Clear Navigation: Your website should have an easy-to-navigate menu that makes it simple for users to find the information they need. Organize your content logically and make sure that important pages are easily accessible.
2. Mobile Responsiveness: With more people browsing the web on their smartphones and tablets, it’s important to have a website that is mobile-friendly. Make sure that your website is optimized for all devices and screen sizes.
3. Easy-to-Read Content: Use clear and concise language to convey your message. Avoid using jargon or technical terms that users may not understand. Use headers, bullet points, and images to break up large blocks of text and make it easier to scan.
4. Visual Design: Use high-quality images, videos, and graphics to make your website visually appealing. Use colors and fonts that match your brand identity and make sure that the overall design is consistent throughout the site.
5. Trustworthiness: Your website should convey a sense of trust and credibility to users. Use testimonials, reviews, and case studies to show how your products or services have helped others. Display any relevant certifications or awards prominently on your site.
6. Accessibility: Ensure that your website is accessible to users with disabilities. Use alt tags for images, provide transcripts for videos, and make sure that your website can be navigated using a keyboard.
7. Faster Load Times: Users expect websites to load quickly, so make sure that your website is optimized for speed. Use compressed images, minimize the use of plugins, and choose a reliable hosting provider.

By implementing these tips, you can create a web user experience that is informative and enjoyable for visitors to your company’s website. This also affirms that your patients are at the forefront of your design strategy. Creating a seamless user experience without the excessive use of jargons and easily navigable steps to access your content.

How Can We Help?

WDB is constantly exploring new approaches to user experience and web development, and we make it a priority to recommend the latest technologies that can enhance your website and save time and money.

We prioritize staying up to date with the latest web development approaches and technologies. We are actively exploring new methods to enhance our clients’ products and improve their overall user experience. Our commitment to providing innovative solutions is demonstrated by our partnership with Pantheon, where we leverage their cutting-edge hosting technologies to deliver high-quality web development services. This approach not only helps save time and money but also ensures that our clients receive the most effective and efficient web solutions available.

By incorporating good user experience UX practices into biomedical websites, measuring patient satisfaction, and prioritizing patient experience leads to better outcomes for patients and also helps improve a population’s health.

Get your website the improvements it needs to increase your brand awareness and visibility. Schedule a call with us to kickstart your project!