The problem
CACHE’s website was full of resources, but much of it was no longer usable. The site was built largely around COVID-era content, and many of the outside sources it pointed to had stopped updating or shut down.
The site’s structure also didn’t work for its whole audience. Some visitors were completely new to climate and health equity; others were experienced health professionals looking for specific data. CACHE needed a redesign that could serve both, with resources people could trust and actually reach.
My role
I led user research with CACHE’s main audience and was the go-between for our research team and the client. After we handed the research findings to the design team, I kept working with the client, updating them on progress and making sure the work stayed in line with their goals. I also gave feedback on the visual design, based on what the research showed users would respond to.
What the research found
I interviewed 4 health professionals who matched CACHE’s audience: a mental health professional, a physical therapist, a midwife, and a pediatrician. Three findings stood out.
A split audience
Some people had never heard of CACHE and had no background in climate and health equity. Others came ready for deeper, technical content. Both needed to be served without one overwhelming the other.
Trust came first
Every resource needed a clear, visible source. Health professionals wouldn’t use information they couldn’t verify right away, so citations had to be up front, not buried.
Format varies
Some people wanted downloadable documents to reference, share, and come back to. Others engaged more with videos or interactive content.
The insight
The client already suspected the site needed a tiered approach to information, but wasn’t sure how to structure it. The research confirmed they were right: the people I interviewed fell clearly into those two groups. That gave the design team a tested framework to build from instead of a guess.
The outcome
The design team built a tiered navigation around topics. A visitor picks a topic, then lands on a page with introductory information for newcomers, alongside resources sorted by type (videos, academic articles, and web sources) for anyone who wants to go deeper. Instead of splitting the audience into two separate paths, everyone starts in the same place and chooses how deep to go.
CACHE responded well to the pitch, and after seeing it, they came back with more features they wanted to add.
What I learned
Knowing an audience’s professional culture matters as much as knowing their goals. Health professionals want information they can verify, in a format that fits how they already work. Designing for trust is about more than looking credible; it’s about respecting how a group of people actually works.
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