Medical Websites in the Realm of Modern Design Trends
Anastasia Miles
With design and development technologies evolving quickly it’s hard to imagine that some of the companies still have the websites designed in late 90′s or early 2000′s and do not think of creating something new and attractive. For some time and rarely meeting such oldie websites online I had no idea that the whole industry could still be keeping to the old design and development formats that’s the medical centers and hospitals websites.
There are hundreds of beautiful website showcases presented online but I have never seen any related to medical websites and so decided to give it a try.
I have browsed through all CSS galleries with zero results, made a search in Google for medical centers and even checked Google keyword suggestion tool for all the possible keywords people use to find hospitals and medical centers online… and it’s really desperate! Overall I have checked over 500 websites and just a few had a hint of modern design and the idea of the inspirational showcase post went into oblivion :)
Still, I think this article will be useful for any designer working on the medical project as I’m going to analyze the structure of the websites, the important home page elements, the menu and other design aspects.
At the end you will find a showcase of 24 non standard medical websites that can help you start with your own design as well as help medical centers to plan a scheme for a successful user-friendly medical website.
First of all let’s look into disadvantages of the old style designs for the medical center website:
1. Small website width and as a result:
- No place for important info of the website home page;
- The info is presented in a not efficient manner, the pages look cluttered;
- The necessity to create multiple inside pages;
- The feeling like you’re in the 90′s;
- Loosing clients who don’t want to dive deep into the content but look for quick info on the home page before going into details.
2. Usage of small fonts and as a result:
- Visitor non- friendliness;
- The inability to browser through the website pages for aged people;
- Less accent on important information.
3. Non professional/small/cut photos and images
I’m not sure if that’s really me who got used to modern creative websites, large spaces and easy access to information, but I think that the old-style websites are simply inconvenient to use. Let’s analyze what the key-points of successful medical website are and what elements I’d expect on the website home page as a regular user looking for some services or advice.
1. Something telling me not to panic.
The relaxing light color scheme and some phrase in the header saying they can help no matter what. Small flash animation showing the photos of nurses, surgeons, doctors with convincing calming phrases would be perfect.
2.Search area.
Search area is vital. That means easy access to the needed information.
3. Testimonials area.
I feel a bit scared and desperate and I want to know what others say. In other words I need someone to calm me down and tell that everything is gonna be okay.
4. A big obvious button to Request an Appointment.
Well that’s exactly the reason why I have finally come to the website of the medical center. I want to request an appointment and I’d be grateful if you could point me to the right direction right away. Comparing to other websites that’s the same calls to action, they should be big enough and obvious.
5. Phone number.
The phone number should be in big letters somewhere on top right area. If that’s an emergency I’ll definitely would like to make a call.
6. Quick links.
Quick links to women’s health, physical health, healthy living or to frequently requested patient and visitor information.
7. Big multilevel menu on top.
Big multilevel menu on top giving access to all the sections possible. This is probably one of the website types when the larger number of sub menus can’t hurt. It’s simple, if you know nothing about medicine or doctors you won’t be able to find anything on the medical website without these multiple helping links.
8. Community engagement.
Link to forum, blog or some knowledge center. People are social creatures yet afraid of doctors and all of us would probably study all the possible literature and cases before visiting the doctors. Here’s when the forum with the doctor advice would be real handy.
Making this small analysis and comparing multiple old style and more up-to-date websites I have come to conclusion that this ancient websites suck not because I miss all the modern cool elements, big buttons or cute boxes, but mostly because there’s simply no place for the information that visitors were seeking for and expected to see.
Thus, building a website for a medical center or hospital keep in mind that space is really important. Think about people who would visit the website, about their behavior and psychology, talk to your friends, parents and grand parents as in this case that might be more helpful than your 10 years of website design experience.
Below is a collection of 24 medical websites that truly stand out from the crowd. They are both for website planning and design inspiration and I’d be happy to see a website created by you or your company in this list in the near future. Stay tuned and good luck!
24 Really Nice & Non-Standard Medical Center Websites
1. Doctorsofusc
2. University of Illinois Medical Center
3. MedHelp
4. Flag Staff Medical Center
5. Concentra
6. CSMC
7. LexMed
8. BMC
9. HolyreDeemer
10. Health Angle
11. GapMedics
12. lrmc
13. Tgmc
14. Shs-Nutrition
15. Med.Cornell
16. Intermountain Healthcare
17.Jefferson Hospital
18. Clevel And Clinic
19. Mobridge Hospital
20. Valley Med
21. Mountnittany
22. Kumed
23. Childrens
24. Seattle Childrens
Don’t forget to share your feed back via comments section.:)
For Further Reading:
Did you enjoy this article and found it useful?
Get even more from us:
Shannon
Posted 168 days ago 26Another great Medical Website Design company is http://www.rxmedicalweb.com … they’ll update your social media (Facebook/Twitter/etc) every day as well.
christina
Posted 191 days ago 25Thanks so much! You read my mind! I have a client I’m currently working with and was trying to send him some “good” medical websites to start getting some ideas flowing… it’s crazy how little there are!
تصميم مواقع
Posted 234 days ago 24great list thank you for you effort ………
Trudy
Posted 240 days ago 23thanks for guidance.
Steve @ eRoomService
Posted 473 days ago 22Wow. Incredible content. You really covered all your bases with this post. Perfect breakdown of the competition and who’s doing what. It was incredibly informative. Some of these websites look super slick.
AM
Posted 505 days ago 19Erh – I think #18 should be “Cleveland Clinic” in the headline, not “Cleve And Clinic”
Gabe
Posted 637 days ago 17Thanks for the input Anastasia! Great insight!
We just launched http://acripc.com for local private practice. We will likely utilize some of these tips in future development!
ReadyPhotoSite
Posted 634 days ago 18Gabe, I love the style and colors and the feeling the website gives. Great work!
Tianna
Posted 640 days ago 15Very nice roundup! Anastasia, thanks for the tips!
George in Denver
Posted 640 days ago 14Excellent points. In Denver, we’ve been reworking our sites. It’s a slow process given that most hospitals do not have large budgets or staff to devote to these sorts of projects. It is a greater priority, though, which is very encouraging. And why you see some of the excellent sites you note.
Our site, which is vastly improved, is still a work in progress.
Design is vastly important in helping to make good content understandable and findable on a site. While content remains king — a whole subject for another analysis — the presentation of content has been overlooked for far too long. Not just in healthcare.
Michael Trussler
Posted 640 days ago 13I agree with what you say about the majority of medical websites belonging to a bygone time. When we created http://www.azhealingtouch.com/ we wanted something that was attractive and informative, and the site has launched to great reviews and has proved very effective for the practice.
Andrew
Posted 501 days ago 20Are you joking, this site looks like it’s been created 10 years ago – terrible look and no navigation…what?
Andrew
Posted 501 days ago 21Hi, I thought you guys might like to check out a site I designed for the British Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons: http://www.bapras.org.uk
Susan
Posted 640 days ago 12As a psychologists teaching medical professionals about the online world, I am glad to hear I am not the only one dismayed by the profession being stuck in the 1990′s :-).
Your advice is great, but often medical testimonials are hard to get since many of us ethically can’t ask patients for feedback that we can then publish publicly.
Thanks for a great article and a “calling out” of the medical profession. We need a kick in the pants!
.-= Susan´s last blog ..Marketing Your Private Practice: Create a marketing list =-.
McConnell Group
Posted 641 days ago 11An inspiring collection Anastasia, I know a few local hospitals still in the early 90′s This post has provided some lead ideas,
Thank you,
Shawn
.-= McConnell Group´s last blog ..Graphic Design Principal =-.
Saad Bassi
Posted 641 days ago 9Awesome Write up, Anastascia. The right way to write an inspirational article.:)
Virtuousquare
Posted 641 days ago 8Original post idea, and some really inspiring examples, thanks.
These websites are so difficult to design due to so many information to integrate, and so few attractive images.
We made one recently too :
http://www.aviesan.fr
Good continuation.
.-= Virtuousquare´s last blog ..Découper une image avec jQuery (plugin split/er) =-.
Mohammad Jeprie
Posted 641 days ago 6Very nice. So, where did you find that good site? Earlier, you said it’s very hard to find.
.-= Mohammad Jeprie´s last blog ..Link Minggu 090510 =-.
Anastasia
Posted 641 days ago 10I checked over 500 medical centers websites I guess using all the possible keywords google suggested :)
Jacek Dolinski
Posted 641 days ago 5Hi, I have couple examples of polish medical sites.
http://www.forumginekologiczne.pl
http://www.medforum.pl
Dainis Graveris
Posted 641 days ago 7thank you! very good additions! :) glad to see such modern medical sites on Poland as well!
Hitesh Mehta
Posted 641 days ago 4Loved it totally! Never seen such a beautiful and thought through designs under medical.
Thank you so much for sharing. Quite a learning from this piece of content.
.-= Hitesh Mehta´s last blog ..HiteshMehta: Medical Websites in the Realm of Modern Design Trends http://bit.ly/dmb0Ij =-.
Graham
Posted 641 days ago 3Hey Anastasia, Thanks for showcasing these.
There are some really great medical related sites!
This is one I recently designed – http://ergroup.co.za/
Thanks again for sharing these.
Arnaud
Posted 641 days ago 2An article really changing webdesign usual showcases. Thank you, good review
Chris Morata
Posted 641 days ago 1Really like the LRMC website!
Alex Nikdel
Posted 638 days ago 16Thanks Chris! We designed the LRMC site and helped them launch it this past December. It’s always exciting to see our work featured!
Also, thanks Anastasia for the kudos.