OurBrainBank website relaunch
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The brief

OurBrainBank is a brain cancer charity focusing on Glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer. It sought to update its website to better meet the needs of those affected by GBM.

Standard treatment options for GBM result in very low survival rates and patients often turn to their own research into the latest medical developments and treatments. However, this information is written for a scientific audience and new treatments are costly, leading to inequalities in patients’ ability to access resources.

OurBrainBank sought to address this issue with a new website that would act as a one stop-shop of resources and information about GBM. This website rebrand needed to resonate with people affected by GBM and cater to OurBrainBank’s growing communities in both the UK and US.

Our solution

To better understand the needs of the website’s end user, we interviewed 11 people affected by GBM to identify their informational needs and website requirements. From these interviews we established the need for a complete source of information and resources, in accessible language, that spanned the entire patient journey and would take pressure off patients, family members and carers at a very difficult time.

This insight was used to develop the site map with a streamlined structure, designed to help people quickly find the information they were looking for. Next, we researched the science behind GBM and differences in the UK and US to develop the website copy, which was reviewed by people affected by GBM and clinicians to ensure accuracy. Where needed, content was tailored for a UK and US audience and pages were geolocated so users would only be presented with information relevant to them.

We also developed and edited a series of homepage videos in an authentic 'video diary' style, with people affected by GBM in the UK and US discussing their experience. These were designed to act as an introduction to OurBrainBank and the disease itself for people first visiting the website, with personal stories adding a supportive touch.

To refresh the look and feel of the website, we updated the colour scheme, fonts, iconography and visuals. As GBM patients can suffer from visual impairment as the condition progresses, it was important to ensure the website redesign was accessible visually to all.

Results

We produced a fully responsive website with a newly developed style, structure, visuals and video content. This included three new videos for the rotating header carousel on the homepage plus new content across 14 pages, containing copy informed by research and tailored to an audience of GBM patients and carers. Content for the US and UK audiences were geolocated to ensure relevance. The new website had an intuitive structure, designed to remain sustainable as the organisation grows.

From our insight interviews we also developed five personal stories for the website, based on interviews with GBM patients and family members. They are showcased on the Stories section of the website and bring the depth of individual experiences with GBM to life.