Figure 1. Google Analytics helped me discover 20,000 pages of the school’s poorly organized content. Many pages displayed different designs, making the whole site feel disjointed and unrelated. Faculty and students preferred Google search over the school website’s search tool; therefore, its online content absolutely needed to be easier to find and publish.

​What You See Is What You Get

In 2015, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine needed a new website--a digital facelift—to improve its outdated content and design. More importantly, the school’s educational programs and medical research were marginalized because the website’s branding failed to outshine competitor sites. Also, a content governance policy was non-existent. For example, publishing rights were granted to some school stakeholders with no oversight, while others waited for weeks to get a phone number updated by the web team. Interviews with more than 50 school stakeholders and website users revealed significant business needs and functional issues.

Together, We Share a Vision

Any design solution, technology, branding, and content governance needed wide acceptance from school administrators, educators, researchers, web developers, and content publishers. It was essential for me to align my business requirements document (BRD) and Discovery efforts with the medical school’s vision as well as with my NavigationArts team’s Content Strategy, UX Design analysis, and Technical Recommendations.

Figure 2. My 50-page BRD recommended a variety of web solutions, such as online calendaring, appointment scheduling, social media outreach, and a responsive design. I compared my BRD with two other NavigationArts documents that proposed a new content strategy and user experience (UX) design.

“Amanda's business requirements document helped Mount Sinai
​decision makers come together on the ​school’s vision and prioritize which
​website functionality to launch first.” ~ NavigationArts coworker

Figure 3. My BRD offered Search features (such as a keyword search, faceted search, and taxonomy) and Technical tips to accelerate the page loads, refine the site analytics, and improve the user experience.

Figure 4. School stakeholders used my BRD to prioritize the two-year roadmap for proposed website functionality. Our solution supported the school's use of its existing Vignette content management system (CMS).

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“Amanda faces each challenge with a positive attitude and was
​​capable of promoting expertise within the team."
~ Eduardo Brazao. Director, Product Management at Nextel International

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Figure 6. Improved menus and Search now make content easier to find.

More Than Just a Pretty Facelift

The Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s website now sparkles with a unified design and innovative branding messages that sell the school’s unique strengths. Web users—from graduate students to hospital patients to businesses seeking research partners—can quickly find the content they need. A strong governance policy allows faster changes by content publishers and lets the web team focus on more technically challenging projects and editorial control.

See website

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“When we were short of resources on large projects [at Sprint Nextel], she proactively assumed responsibility for the additional work...without fanfare or difficulties. ​Amanda has the ability...to envision potential impacts in other areas of the company and the downstream results for our customers."
~ Mitra Rogers. Project Manager, Content & Design at Sprint Nextel

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Figure 5. Our website redesign improved the site’s “look and feel” with a digital facelift—and minimized training by leveraging the school’s existing CMS, a must for the school's web content team.

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“Amanda is able to conduct analyses of business processes and tools, ​and
​can lead during the product strategy and planning phase." 
~ Paula Lawley. Director, User Experience at Sprint Nextel