Accessibility

Design that starts with empathy.

Gaudenzia

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Feeling Connected: Human-Centered Design.

Gaudenzia is on a mission to help both individuals and families affected by drug and alcohol dependency, mental illness, and related conditions to achieve a better quality of life. With addiction and overdoses on the rise, the need for centers like Gaudenzia has never been more vital.

We teamed up with Gaudenzia and took a deep dive into understanding the needs of those visiting the website and the various challenges they face. Using Human-Centered Design, we aimed to creatively discover solutions by focusing on the users’ behavior and needs rather than their demographics. Through our discovery process, we learned that one of the most important, yet most difficult steps for those struggling with addiction, is asking for help. So we asked ourselves, using design and development, how can we provide a solution to this challenge?

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Getting people the help they need.

When Gaudenzia came to us with a need to redo their website, we wanted to do more than offer a good user experience. Our goal was to understand the deeply-held needs and motivations of the users visiting the site and provide them with an experience that made them feel connected. We built the site on WordPress and incorporated a chatbot feature that allows those struggling with addiction as well as their loved ones to not only ask for resources but also be connected with a representative from a Gaudenzia center that is closest to them.

Our deep and thorough discovery process allowed us to understand that people are less likely to seek treatment when faced with words that hold a stigma or negative connotation. So, by using phrases like “I need help,” “My family needs help,” and “My client needs help,” we were able to set the tone for a more approachable and personal empathetic user experience.

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Our design and development focused on providing a thoughtful and empathetic experience for the people using the website. Through taking a human-centered approach, our design thinkers set aside their personal assumptions about the world, gained insight into Gaudenzia’s users and their needs, and ultimately launched a website that supports Gaudenzia’s mission to help those in need.

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