Washington State Department of Health
Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program
Web Strategy Report
Lindsay Court
Emerson College
August 9, 2010
Table of Contents
Summary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------Rationale for Web Strategy -------------------------------------------------------WIC Nutrition Program: Current Web Strategy -------------------------------WIC Website Evaluation ----------------------------------------------------------Planning Horizon -------------------------------------------------------------------SWOT Summary -------------------------------------------------------------------Revised Primary Goals and Measures of Success -----------------------------Target Audience Segmentation --------------------------------------------------Personas -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Competitive Analysis --------------------------------------------------------------Competitive Analysis Highlights ------------------------------------------------WIC Website Recommendations
Recommendations --------------------------------------------------------Initiatives -------------------------------------------------------------------Evaluation ------------------------------------------------------------------References ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Summary
The Women, Infants & Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Program is a support program
administered by the U.S Department of Agriculture at the federal level, by the Washington State
Department of Health at the State level, and locally by public and non-profit health agencies and
community organizations.
The website for the WIC Nutrition Program of Washington State was launched and incorporated
into the Department of Health website in 2002. Its primary function is to make program
information and materials easily accessible to its many audiences.
The focus of this report is to revise the current web strategy and strengthen WIC’s web presence
in order to improve the utilization of the website. Recommendations were made by evaluating
the current state of the website, redefining the website’s goals, identifying the needs of WIC web
users and developing personas, and conducting a competitive analysis. Particular attention was
paid to Web 2.0 tools and social media platforms which will add value to the website, enhance
user experience, and facilitate program recognition.
Rationale for Web Strategy
Internet usage among North Americans has grown at a rapid rate. Internet penetration has reach
76% of the population (Internet World Stats, 2010). In addition to young adopters, there is an
increase in the number of older people accessing information using the internet. According to a
Pew Internet study, 38% of adults in the United States over the age 65 are using the internet
(Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2010). Not only is the internet more prevalent among
older generations, the evolution of the internet has changed how health information is accesses.
The internet is being used much more for personal health research. It is estimated that 60% of
American adults go online to access health information (Fox, 2009).
To meet the needs of this growing trend, health organizations should consider developing webbased strategies. A strong web strategy involves the establishment of goals and asking strategic
questions such as who can be reached and what services should be offered. It is becoming
increasingly common to incorporate social media and Web 2.0 technologies in order to reach
users where they spend a lot of their time online.
According to the Institute of Medicine’s “Crossing the Quality Chasm,” population based
strategies need to meet six aims to improve health outcomes. They need to be safe, effective,
timely, patient centered, efficient, and equitable (Committee on Quality of Health Care in
America, 2001). Incorporating a web based strategy meets these goals.
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There are several barriers that prevent health organizations from developing websites with strong
strategic vision. There is a tendency to ignore a website after it is launched with the expectation
that the content will remain current without being updated and monitored. In many cases there is
a lack of Web 2.0 knowledge among employees of an organization. And with limited resources
and web leadership, many organizations remain in the staging phase, unable to progress.
However it is strongly recommended for health organizations to focus on the benefits of an
interactive, engaging, and instructive web presence. Benefits include reaching new communities
of people that need services, promoting the organization’s brand, accelerating information
exchange, enhanced credibility, and keeping pace with health information seeking behavioral
trends.
WIC Nutrition Program: Current Web Strategy
WIC is a federal assistance program that addresses the health and nutrition needs of lower
income pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and infants and children under the age of five.
WIC clients receive health assessments, health and nutrition education, breastfeeding support,
medical referrals, and WIC checks to purchase healthy foods from approved retailers and
vendors.
The WIC Nutrition Program website for Washington State is maintained by a web team in the
Community and Family Health division of the Washington State Department of Health. Since its
launch in 2002, the website has acted as a fairly static collection of brochures, forms, and
educational material for WIC clinic employees, retailers, and clients. In the creation phase there
were no formal discussions about the goals or what the program hoped to achieve by establishing
a web presence. For that reason the website has not been optimized.
Until recently the website was considered a low priority. A redesign effort has been discussed
for the past year. There is a lot of interest in making the website more visually appealing and
functional.
The website for the WIC Nutrition Program serves several purposes. One is to provide pregnant
women with information about health screenings, breastfeeding, nutrition and how to apply for
the program. The website was also created with the intention of being a source of reference for
WIC employees in the local clinic offices as well as healthcare providers and retailers that
partner with WIC. The challenge with having several different target audiences is meeting all
their unique needs. More than one approach is necessary to connect with users with different
objectives and information seeking behaviors. Currently the website suffers from a lack of focus
and strategy and does not engage WIC’s intended web audiences.
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The majority of the expert generated content is written and designed by employees in the WIC
Nutrition Program within the Department of Health. The website is controlled and governed by
the Communications Office. News updates that drive content come from news releases and
topics of interest among WIC employees and what they think the users need. The web team in
the Community and Family Health division maintains the technical organization of the website.
A previous usability test conducted by the web team tested a color scheme but did not consist of
a comprehensive look at the website’s organization.
Changes to the website are limited by certain guidelines. The current redesign has been
approved to change the look and feel of the website, but only as far as the organization and
information architecture is concerned. A recent interest in building a social media platform has
initiated the drafting of guidelines for social media use. Other programs within the Department
of Health have been allowed to apply for Twitter accounts and other social media tools. The
application is lengthy and the approval takes time. WIC is interested in how social media and
other applications could be implemented to improve website utilization among their target
audiences. (C. Franklin, K. Sasseen, and R. Hunter, personal communication, July 2010)
WIC Website Evaluation
An evaluation of the current WIC Nutrition Program website was conducted and key issues were
identified.
Site Structure
Lack of clear visual hierarchy of information.
Example: The site directory on the left navigation menu is not structured in
a logical hierarchy. What the users would consider to be the most
important information and commonly accessed categories (Clients & the
Public and Clinic Staff) are neither located at the top nor highlighted to
distinguish themselves. They are easily lost. The appearance of things on
the page should accurately portray the relationship between things on the
page. They should be more prominent in order to improve content
discovery and to assist intuitive browsing, such as being bolded or in a
different color.
Example: Much of the information contained within the Medical Providers category is
information for the public as well. Unless the information is specifically for providers, health
topics such as breastfeeding should be grouped together in another location.
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Example: The right navigation pane is often missed because the right sides of web pages are not
scanned for such information. Information such as the WIC Annual Reports is overlooked. It
should be incorporated into the main page or on the upper or left navigation panes.
Navigation
Similar materials and topics are scattered throughout the website. They are not centrally located.
Example: Clinking on the “What
WIC is Doing to Support
Breastfeeding” within the Medical
Providers section takes you to the
Clients & the Public section.
Instead of redirecting users, all the
information pertaining to one
health topic should be in one place
in order to assist in content
discovery.
Labels
Many of the labels are not intuitive.
Example: A large portion of the information on the website is segmented by audience: Clients &
the Public, Clinic Staff, Retailers, and Medical Providers. These categories that draw the most
attention and contain the most frequented information are not labeled appropriately because they
are not descriptive of the nested information. A first time web user that is interested in general
health information may immediately exit the site, assuming they are not represented.
Specifically, the label “Clients & the Public” does not speak to potential program participants
because it does not indicate right away if eligibility information can be found there.
Page Layout
There is no contrast to distinguish target objects.
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Example: Important links such as “How to Apply for WIC” which are surrounded by a green box
on the homepage do not stand out because they are the same size and color of all the other links
on the page. Despite the fact that there is a box, they are not distinguishable. This information
may go unnoticed.
Content
Current content on the website does not meet user needs.
Example: There are limited materials translated into other languages. Language options are not
accessible from the homepage.
Example: The link “How to Apply for WIC” on the homepage directs users to: “Apply for WIC
in Three Easy Steps.” The amount of content contradicts the title: there is too much information
on this page which implies that the process takes lot more work.
Visual Design
There are no relevant pictures or images on the website.
Example: There are engaging and colorful pictures within the brochures and pamphlets that are
available for download from the site, but there are no relevant pictures within the webpage. The
website appears dull.
Technology
Currently the WIC Nutrition Program website does not utilize any Web 2.0 technology or social
media platforms to advance the program’s objective to serve the community. Clients and users
of Washington State’s WIC Nutrition Program website are limited to passive viewing of content
in PDF’s and Microsoft Word documents.
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The only Web 2.0 technology currently used by the WIC Nutrition Program
is a RSS feed. WIC’s RSS feed labeled “Subscribe to What's New” is found
on the “What’s New” page. Any information that is uploaded on the
“What’s New” page is added to the RSS feed. The RSS feed has only been
updated 11 times since December 2009.
The Washington State Department of Health as a whole has a small
presence on Twitter with 769 followers. Tweets are generated by
the Communications Office based on official news releases, but
occasionally submissions for specific tweets from programs are
considered. The feed is fairly consistent with about one tweet a
day. A vast majority of the tweets include a link to an article or
brochure which leads users directly to the DOH website. Although
the information that is shared on Twitter is taken from various
departments, the “Follow us on Twitter” icon is only shared on the homepage of the DOH. A
Twitter account specifically for the WIC Nutrition Program could easily be implemented on the
website to update users on WIC and health news.
Overall
A major issue with the website is that it does not anticipate user expectations. There is specific
information that potential clients need to find as soon as they enter the site such as how to apply,
who is eligible, and where the nearest WIC clinic is located. Currently the website’s
organization, labels, and layering of information create barriers to discovering this information.
There is also no added value such as interactive technologies and social media to draw people to
the site and attract return users.
Planning Horizon
The time frame in which to implement the enhanced web strategy will depend on the allocation
of resources such as budget and employee time. Fundamental changes in website navigation
and organization should be made first, followed by establishing Web 2.0 tools and social media.
It is recommended that action be taken in the immediate future to take advantage of current
internet trends and the social networking evolution.
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SWOT Summary
Strengths
 Expert-generated content in-house
 Vast amount of content
 Links provided to other websites and
trusted resources
 Partnership with Within Reach
Weaknesses
 Web design monitored by Communications
Office- limited design freedom
 No web team within WIC program
 No relevant photos or images
 Lack of organization
 Long approval process for website updates
 No social media specialist
 Broad target audience
 Limited bilingual content
Threats
 Other online sources for health information
 Stigma attached to government assistance
programs - prevents people from seeking
WIC services
 Eligibility requirements are not well known
Opportunities
 Twitter
 Facebook
 Blogs, Client Stories
 “Ask the Experts” discussion forum
 Text messaging services
Revised Primary Goals and Measures of Success
These are the goals pertaining to the website which will be instrumental in the implementation of
the revised web strategy.
Goal 1: To promote the WIC Nutrition Program and services offered.
Measure of success: Increase in the number of unique web users by tracking the number of
visitors before and after the redesign.
Goal 2: To remove barriers such as stigma and perceived difficulty that prevent eligible people
from applying for WIC.
Measure of success: Increase in the number of applications to the WIC Nutrition Program,
specifically from previously less representative audiences.
Goal 3: To improve information and resource accessibility.
Measure of success: By reorganizing website materials and resources into appropriate and
descriptive categories, there will be a measurable increase in the number of times documents and
outreach materials are accessed.
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Target Audience Segmentation
Priority Group
1
Pregnant women and mothers of children
under five years old living in Washington
State with limited economic resources.
2
WIC clinic staff at community health
centers and other local WIC offices
3
4
Medical Providers
Retailers
Subgroups with specific needs
 Hispanics
 Military
 Below poverty level
 Above poverty level
 Current clients
 Potential clients
 WIC coordinators
 Nutrition educators
 Registered Dietitians
 Certifiers
 Clerks
 Breastfeeding Coordinators
 OBGYNs
 Pediatricians
 Family Practitioners
 Nurse practitioners
 Dentists
 Counselors
 Grocery stores with contracts
 Grocery stores without contracts
Pregnant Women and Mothers of Young Children: The audience with the highest priority
consists of pregnant women and mothers of young children. A large portion of the website
consists of content directed at current clients and women interested in joining the program. The
most common inquires include how to apply, who is eligible, and how to contact local WIC
offices.
Demographics of current client base:
Income as % of federal poverty level (FPL)
 136% to 185% of FPL: 27%
 101% to 135% of FPL: 17%
 0% to 100% of FPL: 66%
Income source
 Public Assistance: 16%
 Employment including military: 66%
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 Unemployment: 6%
 Child support, student financial aid, and social security: under 3%.
Ethnic breakdown
 Hispanic: 40%
 Non-Hispanic: 60%
Race Breakdown
 Native American/Alaska Native: 5%
 Asian: 4%
 Black/African American: 6%
 Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 2%
 White: 70%
 Multi-race: 13%
Languages spoken
 Spanish: 19%
 Russian: 1.1%
 Somali: 0.5%
 Vietnamese: 0.5%
 Ukraine: 0.3%
 All the rest under: 0.2 %
(K. Sasseen, personal communication, July 28, 2010).
WIC clinic staff: WIC clinic staff work in community health centers, migrant community health
clinics, community action council agencies, tribal WIC programs and family planning clinics.
Amongst the subgroups there are different purposes for assessing the WIC Nutrition Program
website. Certifiers need updated information on eligibility and outreach materials specific for a
particular community while the nutrition educator specialist requires current information and
research on nutrition, breastfeeding, and other health topics. Education level among WIC
employees vary.
Medical Providers: Medical providers are interested in a variety of outreach material including
the importance of breastfeeding as well as general information about WIC and how to refer
patients and WIC prescription forms. Medical providers do not contribute a great deal to te
website’s user traffic.
Retailers: Retailers consist of grocery stores and local markets. Only stores that have a contract
with WIC are authorized to accept WIC checks. They are required to keep all WIC approved
foods such as eggs and breakfast cereal in stock as well as adhere to other regulations. Content
on the website intended for retailers consists of training materials for grocer employees and WIC
checker guides. Retailers do not visit the site very often.
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Personas
Persona development is an important step in the creation of a web strategy for an organization.
A persona is a representation of the target audience based on research, interviews, and
observations. They act as a way to identify important user characteristics so that the website can
be designed to fit their needs.
Audience Segment: Hispanic Women
Estelle Martinez is a 26 year old single mother of a 9 month old
baby boy. She is Mexican American and lives in Pasco,
Washington. The child’s father moved away three months ago and
does not financially support the family. Estelle does not have a lot
of money in savings, but has managed to stay out of debt. Estelle
quit her job as an assistant manager of a department store when her
baby was born. She also has the responsibility of caring for her
ailing mother whom she now lives with in a two bedroom
apartment. Estelle is currently looking for a job in the classified
ads of the local newspaper in order to go back to work now that her
son is old enough for her mother to care for during the day.
Estelle moved to the United States with her mother and father when she was ten years old. She
has a high school education and some community college. Estelle is bilingual in Spanish and
English, but primarily speaks Spanish with her family and friends.
Estelle goes to the local free health clinic for health information and to have her son vaccinated.
She will consult a doctor about her son’s health, but does not visit a doctor regularly herself
because it is discouraged by her mother who believes it is unnecessary to visit a doctor unless
you are very ill. However, Estelle has taken a doctor’s advice to breastfeed her son.
Estelle is on a limited budget and recently applied for government assistance. In order to save
money, she eats less expensive, unhealthy foods and does not spend money on fresh fruits and
vegetables. When she cooks she prepares traditional Hispanic foods such as rice and beans.
After the birth of her son, Estelle gained a lot of weight and does not exercise.
Estelle heard of WIC through one of her friends. She knows that she is eligible for government
assistance but does not know the exact requirements of WIC. In order to find out more about the
program, Estelle will go online using her Palm Pre phone that she bought on Amazon.com
because she does not own a computer. Estelle is primarily interested applying and getting
resources and support to care for her son.
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Audience Segment: Women in the Military
Natalie is a college educated, Caucasian, 24
year old woman who entered the United States
Army as a Private First Class one year ago.
Her husband of two years is also a Private
First Class. Both live on base at Fort Lewis
and McChord Air Force Base in Washington.
Natalie is two months pregnant. She is
currently deciding whether to stay in the
service and be put on lighter duty until the
birth of her child or to be discharged from the
army and reenlist a year or two after her child
is born.
This is Natalie’s first child. She is very nervous about having a baby and being so far away from
her family and friends in Virginia. Her current support network consists only of her husband.
Natalie intends on joining a mothers in the military program or turning to the base’s Family
Resource Center. She is presently focused on obtaining pregnancy resources.
As members of the army, Natalie and her husband have health insurance. As Privates First
Class, their pay is not very much but they do have a housing stipend. When the baby is born and
Natalie is not longer in the service, they will become a temporarily single income family.
Natalie goes to the doctor on base. She immediately quit smoking when she learned she was
pregnant but is having a hard time overcoming the addiction. It was a WIC pamphlet on
breastfeeding in the waiting room of the doctor’s office that Natalie first learned about WIC.
Natalie is hesitant to apply for WIC because she feels awkward about requesting additional
assistance from the government and being the only person she knows on the base that is a WIC
member. She also questions whether she would qualify.
Natalie is very familiar with the internet and social media and owns a Dell laptop. She buys
pregnancy books online from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble online. She checks her
Facebook account frequently and posts status updates as a way to stay in touch with friends from
college. She joined Twitter as a way to communicate with her friends, but uses it mostly to
follow news organizations like CNN and the New York Times to be connected to the latest news.
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Audience Segment: Clients with Incomes Above the Federal Poverty Level
Jamie is a college educated, Caucasian, 28 year old artist
living in Vancouver, Washington with her husband and
two children: a 2 year old boy named Tim and a 4 year old
girl name Lisa. Jamie makes a living selling beaded
jewelry that she designs and creates herself from her home
based business. Her husband is an electrician. Together
their income totals $34,000 a year.
Last year, Jamie’s daughter Lisa showed signs of gluten
intolerance. After a few months of close examination and
tests, Lisa was diagnosed with celiac disease. Since the
diagnosis, Jamie spends several hours a day doing
research online to find ways to manage her young
daughter’s condition.
Jamie was on the WIC program for 5 months during her first pregnancy with Tim and joined
again after Lisa was diagnosed with celiac disease. Jamie appreciates the support and resources
that WIC offers in her times of need.
Jamie used the WIC website to check what kinds and brands of foods are approved by WIC. She
prints out the WIC Approved Foods brochures. Her expectations are that the approved food list
and WIC news updates are current and easily assessable and that the website can be navigated
quickly.
Jamie became an avid blogger on EverydayHealth.com after her daughter’s celiac diagnosis.
She blogs about her daughter’s health and how it affects the rest of her family. Jamie wishes she
could communicate with other mothers on the WIC program that are raising children with special
health needs. She would like to see more information or support on the WIC website for how to
accommodate certain diets into the program. Jamie also has a Facebook account with 300
friends and 10 group memberships such as to the Celiac Disease Support Group on Facebook.
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Competitive Analysis
Purpose
Target
audience
Site
Structure
Navigation
Labels
Page
Layout
WithinReach
SingleMom.com
To serve the
health needs of
lower income
pregnant women
and mothers of
young children.
To connect
families to
programs,
resources, and
information for
healthy families
using
partnerships
with the WA
State Health
Department.
Lower income
pregnant women
and young
families in
Washington.
Collection of
resources on
financial aid,
jobs,
scholarships,
basic needs,
food, healthcare,
and more for
single mothers.
Single mothers
nationwide.
Women with
families and
retailers in
Pennsylvania.
Policy makers and
mothers in Georgia.
Many segmented
categories for
easy browsing.
Easy browsing,
smaller size sitefewer pages.
Noisy, very busy,
overwhelming
appearance.
WIC
categories/topics
on the left, main
DOH website
navigation on the
right- misleading.
Horizontal
navigation on
the top changes
secondary
navigation on
the left pane.
Site acts as an
intermediary sourcemajority of content is
linked outside the
website.
Horizontal navigation
banner dropdown menu.
Descriptive,
logical,
accessible. Labels
written as
questions,
conversational.
Small text, but
there is an
increase text
option.
Clear, concise.
Main links do not
direct you to a
new page- they
only change the
middle content.
No sense of
location within
the site.
Multiple wordslength decreases
ease.
Information
grouped- several
layers of
information
hierarchy.
Dropdown menu
to view options
before you make
a commitment.
Intuitive.
Not as
encompassing/descriptive
as they could be.
Logical hierarchy
of information
structure.
No scrolling involved,
everything is above the
fold.
Women with
families, vendors,
farmers, and
healthcare
providers in
Oregon.
Easy to scan.
Less content on
each page.
Too much info
on each pagevery busy. Lack
of focus.
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Pennsylvania
WIC
To serve the
health needs of
lower income
pregnant women
and mothers of
young children.
Healthy Mothers, Healthy
Babies Coalition of Georgia
Oregon WIC
To improve access to
healthcare for women
and children.
Oregon WIC
Pennsylvania
WIC
Does not meet
user
expectationslacks WIC
locator.
Stock images.
Consistent
HMHB Coalition of
Georgia
The lists of resources are
not divided into
categories for difference
audiences.
Literacy level is
too high.
Appropriate
literacy level for
audience.
Literacy level is too high.
Select flyers in
multiple
languages.
None.
Website can be
viewed in
English or
Spanish.
None.
None.
“Hotline
Highlights”stories with
quotes from real
users.
None.
None.
Added
value
Increase text size
option.
Video: “Watch
Keely’s Story”
“The single
moms' forum”discussion board
about a variety of
topics, online
community.
None.
Text4Baby.
Registration for
membership.
PSA’s (15, 30, 60
seconds).
Social
Media
None.
Facebook.
Twitter.
Video: “Food
Package Training
Video,”
“Winning with
WIC.”
Newsletter
(inconsistent).
Search Option
(does not work).
None.
Content
Visual
Design
WithinReach
SingleMom.com
Lacks essential
information such
as if the hotline
is available in
other languages.
Attractive
design- color
scheme. Photos
and images used.
Excess
information- too
much to read.
Discourages
readers.
Unappealing. No
focus.
Appropriate
literacy level for
audience.
Incorporates
Google
Translator.
Meets user
expectations,
clear.
Documents for
download are
displayed with
images. Good
use of color.
Literacy level is
slightly too high.
Readability
Language
Options
Usergenerated
content
None.
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Attractive. Photos cycle
every few seconds on the
homepage.
Facebook.
Competitive Analysis Highlights
State of Oregon: Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/wic
Highlights:
 Descriptive labels of categories on navigation menu.
 Google translator- makes a website instantly available in other
languages.
 “Annual Reports” link assessable from navigation menu.
 “Income Guideline” breakdown- very clear.
 Food List brochures are visually displayed- easy to
find.
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WithinReach
withinreachwa.org
Highlights:
 Facebook
o Created in January 2010
o Facebook account is accessible from the
WithinReach homepage.
o 299 Fans (“people like this”).
o Posted photos of WithinReach luncheon.
o Events are created and advertized on
Facebook. Reach has the potential to
extend the entire Facebook network.
o Connects Facebook users to company news, highlighted events, health updates,
new heath initiatives, and related health articles published in newspapers by
posting Facebook status updates.
 Twitter
o Created in January 2010
o Weak presence- 54 followers.
o Message posts/Tweets consist of the same posts that
are found on the WithinReach Facebook page.
o Consistent tweets- about 2 tweets a day.
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SingleMom.com
www.singlemom.com
Highlights:
 User-generated content: The Single Moms’ FORUM
o Creates a single mom community to foster communication and information
sharing.
o Online support system.
o Can join discussions by
topic, interest group, or
location.
o Issue: the forum has been
abused – people have
posted ads for unrelated
products using false
discussion topic titles.
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Pennsylvania WIC
www.pawic.com
Highlights:
 Professionally produced videos: “Food Package Training Video,” “Winning with WIC.”
o Videos are engaging and interesting. They add a lot of value to the website. The
training video educated WIC clients about food selection.
o Both videos were longer than five minutes which is too long. A video longer than
5 minutes is less likely to be viewed. Quality online videos are also expensive to
produce.
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Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia
www.hmhbga.org
Highlights:
 Text4Baby
o Registration for Text4baby, a free mobile information service designed to
promote maternal and child health, is accessible from the homepage.
o Text4baby provides pregnant women and new moms with information they need
during their pregnancy and caring for their babies.
o After registering online or by texting BABY to 51141, women receive free SMS
text messages each week, timed to their due date or baby’s date of birth.
o Also available in Spanish.
 Facebook account
 Donation Link prominent on the homepage
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Website Recommendations
Recommendations
Site Structure
In order to improve content discovery, it would be helpful if there were more categories in the
main menu to guide decision making when users arrive at the homepage. Things that are related
logically should be related visually. Currently the website consists of a lot of important
information illogically nested within with website due to inadequate categorization. For example
the Annual Reports, a source of valuable information to more than just one audience segment,
are found within the pages of “Clients & the Public” and the “Medical Providers” sections. Not
only is the link for the Annual Reports located on the right navigation menu where people do not
often look, it is not made available throughout the entire site. Breastfeeding education material
is also hidden in different areas of the site. By making a “Breastfeeding” category on the
homepage navigation menu, clinic staff and clients alike can find the information they need
quickly.
Navigation
To aid in menu organization and prioritizing
content, WIC should consider incorporating a
drop down menu on the homepage in which
subgroups are displayed when the mouse cursor
rests on a category. Before you commit to a
category such as “WIC Foods” on the homepage,
the subgroups would read: WIC Approved Foods
Update, Details about Each Food, WIC Food
Brochures, etc. Navigation is key to website Goal 3: To improve information and resource
accessibility.
Most WIC Nutrition Program web users access the website because they have a specific inquiry.
The most sought after information is eligibility requirements and how to apply for the program.
That information is currently concealed beneath “Clients and the Public”. Since WIC already
anticipates these questions, the answers deserve a place on the homepage in the main navigation
menu. The rest of the information nested within “Clients and the Public” is valuable for all users
and should be accessible directly from the homepage as well because it saves time and meets
user expectations.
Labels
In addition to adding more categories and incorporating drop down menus, the categories in the
main navigation menu should be re-labeled to further advance content discovery and decrease
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cognitive load. They should be written in a way so that people intuitively recognize it as a
logical title that groups information. The labels should also be descriptive enough to encompass
all the nested information.
Homepage Navigation Menu
Current
Recommended
Home
What's New
WIC Foods
Clients & the Public
Clinic Staff
Retailers
Medical Providers
Farmers Market
Report Fraud & Abuse
Make a Complaint
Links
Contact Us
Home
What is WIC?
Do I qualify?
How to Apply
Clinic Locations
Food Lists
Nutrition and Breastfeeding
WIC News
Annual Reports
For WIC Staff
For Health Care Providers
For Retailers
Farmers Market
Just for Dads
Contact Us
Visual Design
To improve the visual appeal of the WIC Nutrition Program website and to create a welcoming
atmosphere for users, relevant photos and images should be incorporated. Although there are
colorful images within the brochures that are available for download from the website, they are
not displayed as elements of the website.
There are many visual opportunities for WIC to promote its services. An appropriate use of
pictures would help convey the message of community and acceptance. WIC clients may be
interested in seeing pictures of women like them who use WIC services. Images of pregnant
women, mothers with young children, and visuals of WIC approved foods are accessible and
relevant.
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Initiatives
1) Establish a Facebook presence
What:
Facebook is a social networking website launched in February 2004. As of July 2010, there are
500 million active users of Facebook around the world (Facebook Press Room, 2010). Facebook
is the most popular social networking website in the United States. The website is free to users.
Users include individuals over 13 years old as well as companies and organizations which
maintain “like pages” as a means of advertizing.
Why:
 It is important for healthcare organizations to tap into two-way behaviors of social
networking. Interactions increase trust, recognition, and the spread of information.
 Marketing and visibility- Within healthcare, Facebook presents tremendous viral
marketing opportunities for the dissemination of new health research and initiatives.
 Having a Facebook presence can better serve the community and target audience who
access health information online.
 A presence on Facebook can engage an extended network of people in conversation and
promote the WIC program.
 Establishing a Facebook presence meets WIC’s website goals and user preferences,
specifically Goal 1: WIC promotion.
How:
 Incorporate Facebook onto the WIC website using a prominent link on the homepage.
This will increase opportunities for instant engagement.
 Post the latest news, heath updates, and valuable health information from WIC as well as
from other sources. Build trust by personalizing information with a “human touch” such
as writing updates in a conversational tone and fostering two-way dialogues and
conversations. Begin discussions and respond to comments on the Facebook wall. Direct
conversations with Facebook users cascade to their network- when a Fan comments on an
organization’s wall the interaction is shared with an average of 130 friends (Facebook
Press Room, 2010).
Success should be measured based on the goals of the website, not by how many “friends” or
“likes” the Facebook page receives. Instead, determine success by an increase in WIC referrals
and client applications and traffic to the website as well as considering customer satisfaction
surveys and word of mouth. Facebook requires constant attention. A WIC employee should
monitor and respond to Facebook comments more than once a day in order to interact with
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“Fans” and to build a solid foundation. Facebook is a free to use and maintain but requires
employee time and dedication.
2) Create a Twitter account
What:
Twitter is a free social networking and microblogging service that delivers short, real-time
messages less than 140 characters long called Tweets to your social network. Since its launch in
2006, Twitter has become incredibly popular – it already boasts more than 100 million users
worldwide (The Economic Times, 2010). Twitter is slowly gaining recognition in the healthcare
market. Consumer and patient advocacy groups are leading the way in experimenting with
Twitter.
Why:
 Marketing and visibility- Twitter offers the potential to reach millions of people. Health
organizations such as WIC can begin to leverage Twitter as part of their social marketing
strategy to promote new health initiatives for pregnant mothers, WIC program updates,
and create a personal relationship with the public. Tweets are sent out to followers who
then “retweet” the messages to their followers, and so on. The message can
exponentially reach thousands of people by taking 15 seconds to type a short blurb with a
link.
 Web 2.0 tools are already being used by patients and healthcare consumers to exchange
information and help with smoking cessation, diabetes management, pregnancy and other
health issues.
 Twitter would allow WIC to communicate timely information to clients, the public, and
the medical community. Short tweets delivered through Twitter go out from a sender to a
group of recipients simultaneously, providing a fast and easy way to reach a lot of people
in a short time.
How:





Sign up for a Twitter account and use an easily recognized name, such as “WIC_of_WA”
Tweet the same status updates that are added to the Facebook page.
Provide links back to articles or materials on the WIC website to draw in traffic.
Create separate Twitter accounts for clients and healthcare providers/clinic staff.
Create a relationship with retailers and vendors in order to offer coupons or links to
coupons for healthy food in WIC tweets.
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3) Incorporate user-generate content: Blogs or Client Stories
A blog is a Web 2.0 tool that consists of a website or part of a website in which individuals
maintain regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other materials. Many blogs
provide commentary or news on a particular subject. Others function as more personal online
diaries. Blogs are generally open to the public. The ability of readers to leave comments in an
interactive format is an important part of many blogs.
Why:
 Blogs encourage connections with fellow users. Firsthand experience is very valuable
and trusted. Patient stories can provide information, support, reassurance, and practical
advice. 41% of e-patients read the commentaries and experiences of others online (Fox,
2009).
 Meets WIC’s website goal of removing barriers such as stigma for potential WIC clients.
 Blogs can increase credibility and communicate a more personalized voice for the
organization.
 Blog posts are a source of fresh content. Fresh content is also indicative of a more
authoritative web site.
 An active blog community recruits loyal blog readers can boost a site’s visibility through
advocacy on other blogs, in forums offline at conferences as well as on their own blogs
and within the comments of your blog.
How:
 Select a few WIC client bloggers to contribute to a WIC Nutrition Program blog on the
website. In order to select participants, design a contest in which the best three bloggers
will be highlighted and featured on the WIC website. A WIC blogger would write about
their experience with WIC and how they manage their family’s health on a budget.

Ask for stories or experiences from current WIC clients and post them to a “How WIC
has Helped Me” section. This can be done at little to no cost, but involves recruiting
clients. With permission, the stories can be edited for grammar and moderated for
content.
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Evaluation
Feedback surveys
Feedback surveys are advantageous for gathering customer comments, suggestions and
responses about the usability and content of the website. Feedback gained from an online survey
that is accessible from the website can be used to improve the website as well as WIC program
materials. Health consumer intelligence collected from surveys can spur innovative efforts and
new development initiatives to help meet the needs of the users.
A feedback service mechanism can be implemented by linking an online survey to the WIC
Nutrition Program homepage. Surveys can be designed, applied and analyzed by online
applications such as SurveyMonkey.com. SurveyMonkey.com has a free basic service. A WIC
employee can design the survey by customizing the wording and type of questions as well as the
look of the survey. Results can be viewed and analyzed in real time and reports and graphs can
be generated immediately. SurveyMonkey.com also has pre-made survey templates to assess
services.
The disadvantage of incorporating a link to a voluntary survey on the WIC homepage is that
there is a small response rate because there is no incentive for filling it out. Sampling issues
such as self-selection bias may result because there is a tendency for some individuals to respond
to online surveys who have very strong negative or positive feelings while others ignore them
(Wright, 2005). However at this stage, any user input would be useful. The number of survey
responses may also indicate how often the website is being used.
Usability Testing
A usability test is a formal evaluation of a website’s usability and functionality. It includes the
development of online user tasks and recruitment of 5 to 8 participants that represent real WIC
web users. As the participants complete the online tasks using the think-aloud protocol,
observations are recorded by a moderator and often a video recording is made. A usability test is
valuable for collecting empirical evidence and data to validate a website’s design, diagnose
problems, and to gather recommendations and suggestions for improvement. It also verifies that
design goals are met.
Hiring a usability consulting firm is expensive, but very valuable. The return on investment
includes reduced costs of things such as support, training, labor and development (Britsios,
2010). Results can be used by the WIC web team to influence WIC program administrators of
website best practices and highlight the importance of establishing a web presence.
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References
Britsios, J. (2010). Why usability is important to you. Retrieved from
http://www.webnauts.net/usability.html
Committee on Quality of Health Care in America- Institute of Medicine. (2001). Crossing the
quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st century. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.
Facebook Press Room. (2010). Statistics. Retrieved from
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
Fox, S., Sydney, J. (2009, June 11). The Social Life of Health Information. Pew Internet &
American Life Project. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/8-TheSocial-Life-of-Health-Information.aspx
Healthy Moms, Health Babies: Coalition of Georgia. (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.hmhbga.org/
Internet World Stats. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
Lundberg, J., Wolfe, E. (2009, July 16). 5 reasons why twitter is relevant to healthcare. [Blog].
Retrieved from http://blog.dlc-solutions.com/cme/5-reasons-why-twitter-is-relevant-tohealthcare
Oregon State Department of Human Services. (2010). Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Retrieved from http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/wic
Pennsylvania WIC Program. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.pawic.com
SingleMom.com: Resources for Single Moms. (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.singlemom.com
Pew Internet & American Life Project. (2010, January 6). Who’s online- Internet Demographics.
Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/Trend-Data/Whos-Online.aspx
SurveyMonkey. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.surveymonkey.com
The Economic Times. (2010, April 15). Twitter snags over 100 million users, eyes moneymaking. Retrieved from http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infotech/internet/Twittersnags-over-100-million-users-eyes-money-making/articleshow/5808927.cms
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Within Reach: Essential resources for family health. (2010). Retrieved from
http://withinreachwa.org
Wright, K. B. (2005). Researching Internet-based populations: Advantages and disadvantages of
online survey research, online questionnaire authoring software packages, and web
survey services. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(3). Retrieved from
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue3/wright.html
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