Learn About and Do Something… The Balance Between Information and Actions

Written May 7th, 2008 by Drew Diskin, MS

Large Web sites are constantly trying to provide content to many types of users- all with various needs. So how do we organize many types information and actions horizontally across our site(s) while still providing a consistent approach?

At Johns Hopkins Medicine we have begun exploring how we can display both design aspects and internal client goals harmoniously within the Web site(s).

With so many different ways of presenting content- we are taking a fundamental step back… by grouping information by intent. That being said, content presented is considered something the user can learn more about. While taking action involves the user actually doing something- such as making a request for an appointment, making a gift, calling the physician referral line, signing up for a clinical trial, etc.

Grouping these navigational elements visually the same way on all pages (horizontal) can help the user find where they can learn more about a specific topic or drill down on one, while taking action in another visible area of the Web site will eventually train the user to know where they can interact with the organization in some way. As these users come back to the Web site- even in different areas, where they can learn about information and take action respectively will serve as a site deliverable that rewards their behavior.

Here is our first site prototyping this layout: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/heart.

Obviously we are not the only ones to do this. EBay does a great job in grouping actionable links away from the content. Not that linking within content is bad; however, we think that designating where a user can take action can help give some control to our various Web site users.

Happy to hear your thoughts and experiences… Greatly appreciated.

-Drew Diskin, MS is the Director of E-Strategy & Web Services at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

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One Response to “Learn About and Do Something… The Balance Between Information and Actions”

  1. Neal Says:
    May 8th, 2008 at 7:23 am

    I like the approach and will be eager to see how it works for you! You are correct that Web sites in health care tend to have more than one audience, each with very different needs. This sounds like a reasonable approach to try to accommodate most of those.

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