Citat Oy redesigned the Finnish Association for Mental Health’s online service. The aim was to create a website that makes it easy for visitors to find the content they need. The problem with the old online service was that it was fragmented across several different websites. Searching for and finding information was difficult.

Thanks to the website redesign, the Finnish Association for Mental Health’s tremendous amount of content is now collected in a single location, making it easy to access and find.

“The aim was to make the service more organized, which also facilitates efficient website maintenance and further development,” says Joakim Schonert, Chief Strategist at Citat Oy. “The quantitative targets set for the new website were to increase the number of users by making the service easier to find and promoting website recommendations and referrals on social media. A further goal for the new website was to make the crisis hotline staff’s work easier.”

The process began with collecting information on the website’s target groups and working with the customer on planning what content would be aimed at each target group. A keyword analysis was conducted to support the target group analysis by finding out which search terms people use when searching for information related to mental health. Based on the analyses, the website content was revised to better meet audience needs and ensure that the content is found when making online searches using the most commonly used keywords.

“A content audit determines the potential of each type of content,” says Aleksi Lampinen, Managing Director of Citat Oy. “This indicates what content should be prioritized, what should be eliminated, and whether any entirely new content areas should be developed to attract the interest of a specific target group.”

Based on the analyses, a service strategy is created for the online service. The service strategy is then used to build a functional wireframe model that shows the content hierarchy of the online service before the actual content and visual design are completed.

“The implementation of an online service is a straightforward process, during which the user experience and the effectiveness of the visual design are tested over several phases,” Lampinen says. “A prototype is created for the purpose of testing. The building of the actual website only follows once you have a green light with respect to the user experience.

“Brands and customers primarily come together in the context of digital services. This is why the user experience has a pivotal impact on perceived brand image. The user experience must be positive and content must be easy to find irrespective of the terminal device used or the time of day.”

Text: Elina Palkama, student (communication)