Hypothesis

1. We believe that redesigning the Information Architecture (IA) and aligning it with the Ramsay Global Experience Language (GEL), supported by a scalable governance model and unified design system, will:
   - Make it easier for users to find relevant content and complete key tasks (e.g. finding a hospital, specialist, or service).
   - Create a more consistent and trustworthy experience across all Ramsay digital touchpoints.
   - Improve operational efficiency by enabling teams to manage content more effectively.
   - Increase user engagement, satisfaction, and trust through better structure, clarity, and consistency.

2. We will know this is true if we see:
   - Improved task completion rates in usability testing.
   - Reduced user drop-off across critical journeys.
   - Positive qualitative feedback from users and stakeholders.
   - Streamlined publishing processes and clearer content ownership across teams.

Solution & New Experience

1. Solution & New Experience.
   To deliver a unified and scalable digital experience aligned with the Ramsay Global Experience Language (GEL), we redesigned the Information Architecture and visual design system to better meet the needs of users and the business.

2. New Information Architecture.
   We developed a simplified, user-focused IA that reflects real user tasks and priorities. By consolidating content structures and introducing a shared navigation model across corporate and hospital websites, we made information easier to find and reduced duplication.

3. Global Experience Language (GEL) System.
   We translated the Ramsay brand into a digital-first design language. This included scalable components, consistent visual styling, and clear usage guidelines to ensure consistent, on-brand experiences across all digital touchpoints, web, portals, email, and more.

4. Unified Navigation & User Journeys.
   New page templates and interaction patterns were introduced to support user goals such as:
   - Finding a hospital.
   - Booking an appointment.
   - Understanding services and treatments.
   - Accessing safety and quality information.
   - Contacting the right person or team. All of this was validated through IA testing and prototyping.

5. Clickable Prototype in Figma.
   Two future-state concepts were delivered, each reflecting a distinct yet consistent vision of the Ramsay digital ecosystem. A clickable prototype enabled stakeholder engagement and validation of the new user experience.

6. Business and User Impact.
   This new experience is designed to:
   - Improve findability and user satisfaction.
   - Strengthen brand consistency across regions.
   - Reduce internal content maintenance overhead.
   - Enable faster onboarding of new sites into the GEL.
   - Increase accessibility compliance and trust.

Deliverable Components

1. Foundations (Design Tokens)

• Color system (base + semantic colors)

• Typography scale (headings, body, captions)

• Spacing & sizing scale

• Elevation (shadows, layers, radii)

• Motion guidelines (timing, easing)

• Grid & layout system

2. Core UI Components

• Buttons (primary, secondary, tertiary, icon)

• Inputs (text fields, dropdowns, checkboxes, radio buttons, toggles)

• Alerts, banners, toasts

• Modals, dialogues, drawers

• Navigation (tabs, menus, breadcrumbs, pagination)

• Cards & list items

3. Complex Components / Organisms

• Headers, footers

• Side navigation

• Search bar / WYSIWYG editor

• Forms (multi-field groupings, validation patterns)

• Data tables

• Carousels

4. Page Templates / Layouts

• Homepage template

• Landing page template

• Detail page (e.g., profile, product, service page)

• Forms and workflow templates

• Content/article page template

5. Documentation & Guidelines

• Usage guidelines (when to use which component)

• Accessibility standards (contrast, keyboard, screen reader rules)

• Content guidelines (tone of voice, labelling)

• Naming conventions & taxonomy

• Contribution model (how teams add to the system)

6. Governance & Distribution

• Figma libraries (design assets)

• Component library (e.g., React, Angular, Vue packages)

• Documentation site (Storybook, Zeroheight, custom site)

• Release / versioning process

• Feedback & support channels

Current Journey: Pain Points

1. Fragmented Information Architecture
   - Users struggle to find relevant hospital or corporate content due to inconsistent navigation and page structures.
   - Content is duplicated or buried deep in the site, causing confusion and inefficiency.

2. Inconsistent Digital Experience
   - Visual design, tone, and UX patterns vary across sites, leading to a disjointed brand experience.
   - Lack of adherence to a cohesive design system or Ramsay Global Experience Language (GEL).

3. Limited Governance and Ownership
   - No clear content ownership model; updates and approvals are delayed or inconsistent.
   - Business units operate in silos, with unclear roles and responsibilities in maintaining web content.

4. Poor User Task Completion
   - Key tasks (e.g. finding a specialist, booking an appointment, understanding hospital services) are complex for
   users to complete.
   - IA does not reflect real user needs or business priorities.

5. Low Scalability and Efficiency
   - Updating or scaling content across multiple hospital sites is time-consuming and prone to errors.
   - No streamlined way to apply global changes or updates.

6. Lack of Data-Driven Optimisation
   - Limited use of insights or testing to evolve IA or page structure.
   - Difficulty understanding what’s working or where users are dropping off.

Navigation & Accessibility

1. This success criterion aims to encourage consistent presentation and layout for users who interact with repeated content across multiple web pages, requiring them to locate specific information or functionality numerous times.
   

2. Individuals with low vision who use screen magnification to display a small portion of the screen at a time often use visual cues and page boundaries to locate repeated content quickly. Presenting repeated content in the same order is also important for visual users who use spatial memory or visual cues within the design to locate repeated content.
   

3. It is important to note that the use of the phrase "same order" in this section is not meant to imply that subnavigation menus cannot be used or that blocks of secondary navigation or page structure cannot be used. Instead, this success criterion is intended to assist users who interact with repeated content across web pages to be able to predict the location of the content they are looking for and find it more quickly when they reencounter it. 
   

4. Users may initiate a change in the order by using adaptive user agents or by setting preferences so that the information is presented in a way that is most useful to them.

Our Reality & Navigation Constraints

1. Although hospital pages were initially treated almost like a subdomain or separate site, they are in fact just another page within the same website.

2. The rationale behind the navigation structure stems from our overarching goal: to create a more consistent and seamless user experience across the entire site.

3. A key part of this goal was to strengthen the connection between our corporate brand, Ramsay Health Care, and each hospital brand.

4. We faced challenges in bridging the navigation between what felt like two distinct sites: the corporate presence and the individual hospital pages.

5. While we wanted users to easily move between these two areas, this dual-structure approach created accessibility issues; users could become disoriented or lost between two different levels of navigation.


6. To resolve this, we’ve adopted a unified site approach.

7. The dark blue navigation bar now serves as the global navigation and must remain consistent on every page across
   the site.

8. This ensures clarity, brand presence, and a coherent experience for all users.

The Business Problem

Ramsay’s current web experience lacks consistency, scalability, and clarity across hospital and corporate sites. The existing Information Architecture (IA) is fragmented, making it difficult for users to find relevant information quickly and efficiently. Inconsistent design standards, limited content governance, and siloed site structures have led to:

- Poor user experience and navigation friction for patients, carers, and referrers.
- Duplicated effort and inefficiencies across digital teams managing web content.
- Inability to scale or adapt to changing business needs and service delivery priorities.
- Misalignment between Ramsay’s brand promise and its digital touchpoints.

As Ramsay continues its digital transformation, there is a critical need to align its IA, design system, and governance model under a unified Global Experience Language (GEL) to deliver a seamless, customer-centred, and future-proof web ecosystem.

Constraints

• IA was done first

• Accessibility requirements

• Changing Nav due to political fracturing

• Current data - NONE

User Goals

1. Find information easily and quickly
   - Users want to locate services, specialists, hospital details, or health information with minimal effort and clear navigation.
   - Content should be structured logically and be searchable or browsable without confusion.

2. Feel confident and reassured
   - Users expect a trusted healthcare provider to present accurate, up-to-date, and professionally delivered content.
   - The design should inspire confidence through brand consistency and clear messaging.

3. Experience a seamless journey across touchpoints
   - Whether interacting via desktop, mobile, email, or patient portals, users expect a consistent experience and visual identity.
   - Users want continuity, the same tone, look and feel, and structure across digital channels.

4. Understand what to do next
   - Clear calls-to-action (e.g. "Book an appointment", "Find a location", "Contact us") should guide users logically through their journey.
   - No dead-ends or ambiguity around next steps.

5. Access relevant, localised information
   - Users want to access hospital-specific content such as services offered, specialists available, visiting hours, and contact details, specific to their location or needs.

6. Save time and avoid frustration
   - The digital experience should reduce the need for calling or searching multiple pages.
   - Users want fast access to the right content without unnecessary clicks or clutter.

Design Principles

1. Human-Centred always
design around real patient, family, and clinician needs, not internal structures.
   - Prioritise empathy, clarity, and accessibility in every interaction.

2. Clarity over complexity.
   - Structure information simply and intuitively.
   - Make it easy for users to find what they need quickly and confidently, with minimal friction.

3. Consistency builds trust.
   - Use the Ramsay Global Experience Language to maintain a consistent visual and interaction design across all touchpoints, from corporate to hospital pages.

4. Accessible by default.
   - Ensure all digital experiences are inclusive and usable for people of all abilities.
   - Follow WCAG 2.1 AA standards or better, with mobile-first thinking.

5. Flexible, yet standardised.
   - Create modular design and content systems that enable local hospital teams to maintain autonomy while staying aligned to the national/global brand.

6. Design for confidence and care.
   - Every interaction should reinforce Ramsay’s values of trust, safety, and professional care.
   - Tone, layout, and visual cues should reflect reassurance and authority.

7. Scalable and sustainable
build systems and design patterns that are maintainable over time, easy to govern, update, and scale as Ramsay evolves.

8. Data-informed, not data-driven.
   - Let analytics and testing shape and improve designs, while always balancing numbers with qualitative insights and brand integrity.