Jean Hailes
Transforming women's health access through strategic content and design
Jean Hailes for Women’s Health has been challenging the status quo and breaking barriers in women’s health access in Australia since 1992. When they decided to redesign their website to align it with their new strategy and message, we knew we wanted to be a part of it.
Project snapshot
The opportunity
A complete website redevelopment to reflect Jean Hailes new strategy and messaging driven by their purpose and vision to create an Australia where gender has no influence on health and wellbeing outcomes.
The result
After auditing over 300 pages, we delivered just over 160. These were organised using a new information architecture (IA) designed to align with the intent of women and health practitioners visiting the website. This helps women make informed decisions about their health, understand their best course of action, and explore the implications of the latest research. All with a strong focus on accessibility and a mobile-first lens.
Designing a purpose-led website
Jean Hailes is an organisation with a clear purpose: to empower women to enjoy the best health and wellbeing at every stage of life. This purpose guided every decision of the process.
From the content audit to the new IA design, to the copywriting process, we knew we had to deliver a website that was:
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accessible
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informative for women at every stage of life and health practitioners
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digestible for women at different stages of their health journey
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supportive
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inclusive
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mobile-first.
Jean Hailes shared solid research and data that backed up their vision and purpose – and our work.
Structuring for intent, not just topics
People look for health information at different moments in their lives. They might be looking for general advice, seeking a diagnosis, or responding to one. There are also different concerns at different life stages.
The old website IA wasn’t speaking to those moments. It was focused on topics instead of supporting people’s health journeys. We redesigned the IA to reflect user intent and how they might be feeling:
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We organised content around real-life needs and moments to make it easier to navigate and more supportive when it matters the most.
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We chose action-oriented labels for the navigation bar to increase engagement and provide clarity.
Old website navigation
New website navigation
Fighting overwhelm with smart content design
With evidence-based and constantly updated health information, we never lacked quality content. But challenges included:
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fragmented information
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duplicated content
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scattered PDF resources.
To create a more cohesive experience, we consolidated around 180 pages into comprehensive landing pages. But long pages can be overwhelming, especially if you’re:
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navigating a recent diagnosis, a moment many women described as the ‘marshmallow moment’
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accessing the website on mobile, like 80% of Jean Hailes users.
To address this, we applied several strategies:
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FAQ-style pages with breakout boxes to highlight key content
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floating links to support page navigation, especially on mobile
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key takeaways sections at the top of each page
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estimated reading times to help readers prepare
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lived experience stories to create a connection
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web integration of PDF content
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transforming static self-assessment PDFs into interactive HTML tools with results delivered by email
Old health topic page
New health topic page
Helping Jean Hailes become the go-to for women’s health
Jean Hailes is widely recognised for their expertise in menopause in Australia. Now, the team aims to become the go-to reference for women’s health across all ages and life stages.
The team shares they wish people knew Jean Hailes is not only about menopause.
We brought this goal to life with:
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an IA focused on intent
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a refreshed homepage and new pages featuring diverse stories
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the introduction of ‘Understand life stages’ content
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a dedicated section for First Nations women’s health
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a holistic wellbeing hub under the name of ‘Look after yourself”
All of these elements, combined with smart content design and plain language, support Jean Hailes in driving better health outcomes for women in Australia.
“It's been wonderful to come into the project at this stage with such a huge piece of work done, and to such a high standard. Thank you for all your time on this.”
Anna Robinson - Marketing Content Manager at Jean Hailes