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It’s Not What You Want, It’s What They Want

Each month, nearly 1,000 visitors to hopkinsmedicine.org voluntarily answer survey questions about their expectations of and experience on the website. Their answers provide insights into what is being done well and areas that need improvement.

03/01/2015
Published in Insight - March 2015

Overall, Web content receives extremely positive responses, says Aaron Watkins, director of Internet strategy for the Marketing and Communications Department. “We also see where we have opportunities to expand certain content based on what visitors indicate they expect from Johns Hopkins Medicine,” he says. “For example, visitors often seek extremely detailed disease, diagnosis and treatment information that we do not consistently address. As soon as we learn this, we are able to work with our clinical and research partners to get that information posted.”

Recently, one survey response noted the lack of detailed information on neuroscience research projects. This provided valuable input for a project under consideration to build a searchable, topics-based system for all Johns Hopkins Medicine research areas, beginning with neuroscience, says Watkins. A pilot Web presence will launch on hopkinsmedicine.org soon.

Another example of how survey responses have impacted website design is the recent addition of highlighted faculty pro­files alongside search results, says Watkins.

The survey is based on the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which has been used to assess customer behaviors and business performance for more than 80 years. It measures perception of and satisfaction with the Johns Hopkins Medicine website experience, and future intentions for the Johns Hopkins Medicine brand, services and products.

Data collected in 2014 show the website has many strengths. “We are performing well above the industry average in health care, which includes health care systems such as Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic,” says Watkins. “The highest performing sections of our site include the Health Library, where we are making the greatest investments in our digital strategy. This is also where we can often provide new content, which surveys show our visitors are seeking.”

The Health Library offers advice from Johns Hopkins experts on diseases, conditions, tests, procedures, prevention guidelines, and recipes and nutrition information.

For more insights about Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Internet strategy, check out the Left Nav blog at bit.ly/leftnav. To learn more about specific aspects of the survey and its findings, reach out to Aaron Watkins.