Timeline: Dec. 2022
I was the lead designer working on a comprehensive content hierarchy overhaul by designing standardized page templates for future Discover pages designed to optimize the publishing process, save time, and lead dental professionals to make more informed purchase decisions.
Problem
Poor information architecture of the Discover section caused unthoughtful content layout and disorganization.
Outcome
Condensed the existing 300+ pages into 21 standardized templates reduce design and publish time by 50%, while also establishing clear expectations for future pages
The Discover section of the Dentsply Sirona website provides critical information on emerging products and brands, influencing dental professionals' purchase decisions. The array of over 300 different pages lead to inconsistencies that made the Discover section confusing for the global dental audience to navigate and complete their purchases.
The vast array of the Discover section lacked cohesion and consistency. Without proper documentation, the authoring teams struggled to ensure uniformity in page publication. Usability also suffered, as dentists struggled to navigate the subsections seamlessly. The Discover section had evolved into a disorganized collection of one-off pages that no longer effectively served its core knowledge-sharing purpose for the professional dental community.
While it didn’t make sense to re-design all 300 existing pages, the goal was to create a strong foundation that embraced a rapidly evolving business and diverse product selection.
There was no previous site maps, customer journeys, or structure for the pages previously laid out.
Early on, it was important to understand the current state of the Discover section and to identify any pain points dentists may have while navigating the site. I created a site map of the whole website to understand where the Discover section fits within the website as a whole while my lead product designer mapped out the Discover section
We were able to access how big the Discover section was which gave us a good idea of how many templates were needed.
I also wanted to consider the customer journey to understand where the Discover section falls within the whole shopping experience. The information provided in the Discover section plays a key role in the consideration phase, given its focus on presenting information pertaining to various products and brands to aid in making informed purchase decisions.
I needed to understand the similarities each type of page had with each other and remove any unnecessary information such as repeated content or outdated information.
With a better idea of the types of wireframes needed, I defined a new content hierarchy structure and set guidelines for future pages by designing 21 different wireframe templates. I laid out existing components in a way that allowed the information to flow down the page and was easy for dentists to digest.
I also created a mini style guide for our internal teams to help them know what colors we are using, the tone and voice, main components, and typography being used
Every project is not perfect, and this is where my project hit a minor bump in the road
By the end of 2022, we were ready to start using the templates. Both the templates and style guide were sent out to our internal teams including marketing, eCommerce, content, outside agencies, and of course, the UX team itself. It was finally great to see all the hard work come to life.
We had numerous new page requests at the start of 2023, which aligned perfectly with the launch of the new template system. These templates provide a guide for those who are designing, writing, and managing a product. They have helped project managers focus on the needs of the page, helped writers understand content length, decreased authoring time for AEM authors, and made designer’s create high-fidelity mockups of pages quicker.
The documentation of the templates, style guide, and new site map has had a positive impact, internally overall. They have:
Next steps for the template project is to create an overall look and feel. We needed to find a way to differentiate the sub-categories within the Discover section. One solution was to assign each category a color and make sure the images of the pages follow the color scheme. Here, I have begun to pull all the different imagery used throughout the Discover section and assign them a color so you know what category you are in.
Some things I would do differently next time or in the future.