Information Architecture
Gardner Information Design, Inc. provides information architecture services for the design, reorganization, and structuring of web sites, microsites, and information repositories.
Note: For detailed information about contract and consulting projects, visit P.J. Gardner's Contract Resume.
Case Study: BCBSMA
As an Information Architect, P.J. Gardner redesigned the Health & Dental Plans section of Bluecrossma.com for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) during Spring 2007, to incorporate changes in demographics bought about by the new Massachusetts health care reform legislation.
As of July 1, 2007, instead of primarily selling health care plans to employer groups, BCBSMA also began offering health plans directly to consumers.
The revision of the Health & Dental Plans section went live on March 30, 2007, well before most of the competing health insurance providers were prepared.
The project for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts demonstrates the following skills:
In addition to these skills, P.J. Gardner participated with other members of the usability team in the development of personas, and usability testing performed on three sites related to health care reform.
Besides observing test participants, as Information Architect on the projects, P.J. recommended user interface changes to address the issues found.
Note: The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts web site has since been completely redesigned. The examples in this case study no longer match the current site.
Web Site Reorganization
The previous site organization for the Health & Dental Plans sections of Bluecrossma.com was based on types of plans, using terminology familiar to health insurance brokers and benefit plan administrators.
As Information Architect, P.J. proposed reorganizing the site by the types of people likely to visit the site and the types of education they would need as consumers for direct purchase of health plans.
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Sitemaps
These sitemaps were created to reorganize the existing BCBSMA web site to support health care reform. Sitemaps can be crucial tools in the planning stages of a new web site or a web site reorganization.
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The Microsoft Visio sitemap files are very large and contain many tabs. The originals print on 12" x 18" paper.
Note: These sitemaps no longer match the current site. Full-size views of these sitemaps are available, if requested.
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Wireframes
These wireframes were created to change the emphasis on the BCBSMA site from employer-groups to consumers. Wireframes are useful for outlining the layout of pages and the inter-relationships of site pages prior to construction.
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The Microsoft Visio wireframe files are very large and contain many tabs. The originals print on 12" x 18" paper.
Note: These wireframes no longer match the current site. Full-size views of these wireframes are available, if requested.
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Microsites
While at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, P.J. Gardner created site maps and wireframes for a microsite (a small, stand-alone web site) called Club Blue, to promote value-added health benefit services to plan participants ages 19 to 26.
Club Blue was developed in conjunction with a special-purpose BCBSMA Flash website, called whygetit.com, to encourage young people to buy health coverage for themselves.
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Note: The Club Blue site went live in May 2007 and has since been replaced.
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Prototypes
P.J. also designed a prototype for a more broad-based consumer health program, which was not released.
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