Web Migration for Virginia HEALS

May 2025 - Aug 2025

Improved accessibility and compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA and ADA through content and visual redesign, increasing engagement rate by 10.4% and average time on site by 26 seconds.

My Role

Lead Designer

Worked With

Project Manager — x3
Developer — x1
Research Group

Engineer — x1
UI/UX Designer — x2
Product Manager — x1
User Researcher — x1

Company

Office of Trauma and Resilience Policy at the Virginia Department of Social Services

Engineer — x1
UI/UX Designer — x2
Product Manager — x1
User Researcher — x1

Tools & Skills

Figma, Prototype, CMS (Terminalfour), Google Analytics

Virginia HEALS - Helping Everyone Access Linked Systems

Background

Why Migration?

Virginia HEALS, a public health initiative by the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS), supports families affected by trauma. The site migration aimed to address content growth, accessibility, and management efficiency.

Content Growth

Integrated Healing-Centered Organizations and Lived Experience Engagement content.

We identified the need to distinguish between external disruptions (e.g., notifications) and internal, habit-driven interruptions to avoid attention mechanisms that disrupt focus.

WCAG 2.1 AA compliance by 2026

Met new state and local government standards for readability, color contrast, and text alternatives…etc.

Aligning with VDSS Hosting Requirements

Migrated from WordPress to Terminalfour to maintain content flexibility and adhere to security protocols.

User Research

Pain Points from Datapoints

User Insights from Focus Groups and Interviews

User Journey Map

Users Wanted:

Audience-centered content

Audience-centered content

Resources tailored for beginner, intermediate, and advanced users.

Intuitive Navigation

Intuitive Navigation

Allows users to quickly find specific content without excessive scrolling or visual noise.

Visually engaging and diverse content types

Visually engaging and diverse content types

Videos, testimonials, graphics, photos, and newsletters can effectively communicate the value of the work.

Greater promotion of the website

Greater promotion of the website

Users recognized the importance of Virginia HEALS but noted a lack of marketing, promotion, and SEO strategy.

Goals

Enhance Accessibility, Usability, and User Engagement

Enrich content variety and set up SEO properly
Meet WCAG and ADA guideline
Ensure clear and intuitive navigation

Engage a broader, more diverse range of stakeholders:

Community Advocates
State agency leadership and staff
Local human services leaders and policymakers
Direct service providers at the local level

Ideation

Sitemap & Content Audit

I collaborated with project managers to redesign the site structure and content based on SEO best practices and competitor benchmarking.

Prototyping

High Fidelity Prototype

Tradeoff

I initially envisioned creating a directory to store 50+ resources all in one place. However, due to the developer team’s limited bandwidth, it wasn’t feasible within the project timeline.

Instead, I implemented card-based layouts and divided the sorting features across three separate pages.

Solution

Challenges & Final Design

The project faced serious delays due to strict cybersecurity requirements, vendor dependencies, and limited developer bandwidth.

I kept following up and pushing the dev team for prioritization. Two weeks before my last day, I finally gained access to new web platform, shipped 90% of the site, documented a clear handover, and the site went live shortly after.

We were challenged on the source of our house listings—are we collaborating with all local properties? Additionally, how can we convince users that we are a reliable platform?

Click to see the site!

Before / After

Impact

Success metrics & Quotes from teammates

When I looked for quantitative insights before the revamp, I found the existing data was very limited and not actively managed. Seeing this gap, I took the initiative to set up Google Analytics Dashboard to measure the site’s performance.

As marketing Virginia HEALS is the next step after launch, these metrics will help evaluate its effectiveness.

Page Views ⬆ 88%
Engagement Rate ⬆ 10.4%
Average Time on Site + 26 sec

(Compared to the average data before revamp)

Page Views ⬆ 88%
Engagement Rate ⬆ 10.4%
Average Time on Site + 26 sec

(Compared to the average data before revamp)

Reflection

Lesson Learned

As a solo designer, working in a nontraditional PM–Design–Engineering setup like government was challenging. Doing the work well was far from enough. It was also about communicating the value of design and explaining my decisions clearly.
Flexibility was the biggest lesson. Things rarely go as planned, and I learned to build alignment and advocate for design priorities through constant communication with leadership.
If I had more time, I would conduct usability testing with more users and explore additional features that enhance usability.

Reflection

Lesson Learned

As a solo designer, working in a nontraditional PM–Design–Engineering setup like government was challenging. Doing the work well was far from enough. It was also about communicating the value of design and explaining my decisions clearly.
Flexibility was the biggest lesson. Things rarely go as planned, and I learned to build alignment and advocate for design priorities through constant communication with leadership.
If I had more time, I would conduct usability testing with more users and explore additional features that enhance usability.

Reflection

Lesson Learned

As a solo designer, working in a nontraditional PM–Design–Engineering setup like government was challenging. Doing the work well was far from enough. It was also about communicating the value of design and explaining my decisions clearly.
Flexibility was the biggest lesson. Things rarely go as planned, and I learned to build alignment and advocate for design priorities through constant communication with leadership.
If I had more time, I would conduct usability testing with more users and explore additional features that enhance usability.