The homepage is an anchor point for a brand’s products and services. While it may not always be the starting place (most users start on websites through a marketing landing page or detail page), it is a screen that users return to to understand the big picture. The homepage can set the tone for the user experience. At a minimum, it must establish the brand, explain the offerings, and entice users to invest their time further.
The homepage of a wellness company must do even more. These companies provide a new platform for care and often address sensitive and stigmatized categories such as sexual health and mental health. Users evaluate relevance against personal health needs and pivot points. Every module must reinforce the correct information, connection, and tone.
There are five critical elements to consider when designing a wellness homepage UX:
1. Educational navigation
2. Empathetic-driven value proposition
3. Demonstrate the offering
4. Reinforce Relevance
5. Build credibility
1. Educational Navigation
Navigation is the most significant opportunity to connect with users. The purpose of a website’s navigation is to not only orient users but also educate them about the company. The user first scans the navigation to learn the who and what about the company. Some sites miss this opportunity by hiding information in vague mega menus. Instead, expose clean, descriptive main categories that speak to needs. Exposed categories become an educational tool to help users understand offerings and benefits.
What should go into navigation? Navigation should promote exploration while speaking directly to user needs. Asking yourself questions can surface the most critical elements for navigation.
What do you want the user to know about the company? You can surface the core health areas you treat or the health goals you help them achieve.
What are users’ common questions, and what aspects of the service or product do they get wrong? Do they question the efficacy? Do they wonder if the product will work for them? Consider surfacing science or reviews to the top level.
Best practices for educational navigation:
- Clean and descriptive main categories like “Mental Health,” “Nutrition,” and “Sexual Health.”
- Educational categories that help the user get to know the product or brand.
- Clear calls-to-action like “Take Assessment” or “Find a Therapist.”
- Aim for seven or fewer top-level navigation categories to ensure scannability.
2. Empathetic-Driven Value Proposition
The purpose of the value proposition is to clearly explain the brand’s purpose, approach, and benefits in a way that first connects with user needs. It should be positioned prominently at the top of the site.
Disclaimer: We are not copy-writers! However, from a user experience standpoint, wellness brands must avoid feeling too transactional. To accomplish this well, brands must lead with need first. Frame the value proposition around the emotional and physical benefits of the product. For example, focus the positioning on reducing symptoms or achieving health goals over describing the product’s features. This empathetic positioning helps users feel understood before being presented with a transactional solution. It builds connection by speaking to their needs.
How do you create an empathetic value proposition? Dig into your reviews and testimonials for inspiration. What pain points have you solved? What about your offering do they value most? Identify the impact that you have and reuse the powerful emotive phrases that they use. For example, ” Life changing” is more impactful than “convenient.”
Some best practices for articulating an empathetic value proposition:
- Lead with the desired end benefit over product features. How will you help users achieve their health goals or recover from the symptoms they are experiencing?
- Reinforce messaging with relevant lifestyle imagery.
- On mobile and desktop, feature the proposition prominently near the hero.
3. Demonstrate the Offering
Once the wellness homepage UX explains the benefit, it must quickly showcase the offering. Showing the products helps users understand what they are getting while reinforcing how they fulfill the value proposition. Many wellness companies fall into the trap of hiding the products behind the benefits. This approach can be vague and confuse the user about what they are getting.
For companies that offer a service such as telehealth, pair the offerings with a “How it Works” module explaining the process. Doing so will help users understand how the products and services connect. Use visuals like product images, screenshots, and videos to demonstrate the solution vividly. The goal is to help users answer: Will this offering meet my needs?
There are a few practical ways to demonstrate wellness offerings:
- Prominently display the main products using imagery that features the product
- Pair the product with benefits like “grow longer lashes.”
- Use descriptive headings like “What to expect.”
- Keep the how it works brief – 3 steps are ideal.
4. Reinforce Relevance
A wellness homepage UX needs to include a module dedicated to reinforcing relevance. These modules build on a user’s connection to the brand because they recognize their own needs and how the brand has delivered on their promise. A brand might dedicate a module to before and after photos or powerful testimonials that speak to the transformation the user has experienced. The goal is to build confidence by showing skeptical users that people with similar needs have found success.
Some effective ways to highlight relevance:
- Feature relatable testimonials from actual customers describing their transformative experiences.
- Use powerful before-and-after photos showing actual results from using the products or services.
- Share results statistics such as “x% of users see results within a month.”
5. Build Credibility
Establishing credibility is one of the more critical elements for wellness homepages. New models of care or new brands need to work extra hard to gain users’ trust. The goal is to earn trust and to reassure users that the company and its solutions are effective, safe, and backed by medical science. Brands build credibility by being transparent and answering questions before their users can ask them. The skeptics will question, is this a real doctor? How do I know it will work? Is it safe? And rightfully so, this is their health.
Ways to establish credibility:
- Prominently feature doctor profiles and bios
- Link to authoritative health resources and studies
- Display of accreditations and trust badges like FDA Approved.
A Note on Experimentation
A thoughtful wellness homepage UX uses the five elements to give a broad overview of the service while building trust, connection, and a desire to take action. Homepages should be a place for experimentation and iteration to connect with users. Using the five core elements, test different messaging, rearrange the order of modules on the page, and try multiple layouts to see the most successful combination. The core purpose of each element remains the same. If you need qualitative feedback on the combinations and you can’t access your users for input, role-playing can provide valuable insights.
By leading with educational navigation, the site can help users understand the offering and the brand. An empathetic value proposition reinforces the company’s deep understanding of users’ struggles. Showing the product offering helps users know what they are getting and the connected benefits. Reinforcing the relevance makes the benefits believable, and building credibility helps create trust in a new brand or product.
Companies in the wellness space have a profound opportunity to connect with people at vulnerable moments in their health journeys. The homepage can provide a focused landing place to learn about the brand and create a connection.