CASE STUDY:

Therapist Website Redesign: Monica Chernoff, MFT

BACKGROUND

Monica Chernoff is a therapist based out of Southern California who specializes in athlete mental health. Since Monica previously played water polo at the collegiate level, she felt she could understand the challenges her clients faced. Two years after getting her Master’s Degree at USC, her practice began to flourish. Monica designed her website herself on SquareSpace when she was starting her career and didn’t have the time to improve it as her client list grew. She decided in September 2023 she wanted to refresh her website to a more professional and evolved look. Her goals for this redesign were to increase engagement with potential clients, improve the user workflow, and redesign the user interface.

Target Audience: Athletes throughout Northern and Southern California

Problem: Outdated and inefficient website

Solution: Redesign the website to improve the UX, UI, and marketability for Monica’s practice

RESEARCH

Heuristic Analysis

I conducted a heuristic evaluation to gauge the effectiveness of how users would interact with Monica’s website. Here is a list of areas of improvement:

  • ORIGINAL WEBSITE (ABOUT ME PAGE)

    Information overload: There is a lot of information on each landing page. Monica does a great job providing thorough details about her practice and background but, does not frame it in a way that is marketable, persuasive, or relatable to her potential clients. This dissuades their decision-making process and decreases user retention rate.

  • ORIGINAL WEBSITE (HOME PAGE)

    Sequence: The sequence of information does not create trust immediately between a potential client and Monica. On arriving at the Home Page, there is a lack of visual content that educates them about why they should choose Monica as a therapist.

  • ORIGINAL WEBSITE (CONTACT ME PAGE)

    Unbalanced design: There is a lack of visual flow in each landing page. The sizing and spacing are uneven. This causes the attention of the user to be directed towards what’s the largest on the page, rather than focusing on the information at hand.

Competitive Analysis

Additionally, I conducted competitive research that identifies and compares different features that are commonly seen in therapist websites as of 2023. I compared five different therapist websites and used an Excel sheet to measure my data (see photo below). Based on my analysis, I discovered that common sections on their website were: Background information about the therapist, services they offer, and a form for future clients to contact them.

Surveys

Finally, I gathered more thorough target audience feedback by creating a survey on Google Forms. Monica distributed it to ten people who anonymously responded to the three-question survey. The questions were the following:

  1. What did you like about this website?

  2. Did you face any challenges while using this website? If so, please explain.

  3. What can be improved about this website? 

Survey Feedback

Findings

From all the user experience research conducted above, I was able to determine that the following pages were needed within the website:

  • A “Home” page, where potential clients can be introduced to Monica’s practice

  • An “About Me” page, where potential clients can learn more about Monica’s qualifications and experience

  • A “Services” page, where potential clients can find more details about her policies, fees, and services

  • A “Contact Me” page, where potential clients can book an appointment, ask questions, book a free consultation, etc.

  • A “Frequently Asked Questions” page, where potential clients can see answers to frequently asked questions about Monica’s practice

Additionally, I suggested to the client to offer something for free on her website to assist with building trust with her target audience. She decided to go with a mental health resources page. She loved the idea of further educating her current and potential clients beyond their sessions.

DESIGN

Wireframes

I created wireframes for Monica’s future website based on the user research above. My main objectives were the following:

  • The flow of information: Monica had a lot of the right information on her website, she just needed assistance with placement

  • The user interface: The website lacked cohesion in design, spacing, and sizing

  • The removal of the “You” page: There was a lot of confusion about why there was a “You” page when it had information about Monica instead of information that was more user-specific

  • Add more opportunities for contact: The website only had two places where the user could easily contact Monica

  • The photos: Some of the photos on the website had either too casual tone of a tone or did not relay information about her professional experience

  • Credibility: The website needed to create more trust between Monica and her potential clients

  • Home page

  • About Me

  • Services

  • FAQs

  • Resources

  • Work with me

After Monica’s review, feedback, and approval we were able to start the design process. Now the fun part!

CONCLUSION

The redesign of Monica’s website was all about improving the user experience to match the professionalism and expertise of her practice. My approach focused on creating a site that not only works well for users but also builds trust and authority, which are so important in therapy.

I streamlined the navigation to make it easy for users to find what they need, whether it’s learning about her services or booking an appointment. Every design choice was carefully thought out to make the site intuitive, trustworthy, and welcoming right from the start.

In the end, the redesigned website not only makes things easier for users but also strengthens Monica Chernoff’s reputation as a trusted and expert therapist. The new design is a solid digital representation of her practice, helping her connect with clients and keep up a professional image.

A big thank you to Monica for allowing me to be a part of her website redesign! To learn more about her practice, visit her website here.