Behind the scenes publishing the new NHS website homepage

As an NHS England team, we aim to:

• improve health and care outcomes
• improve people’s experiences of health and care services
• make health and care services more efficient
• reduce pressure on frontline services. 

As the CMS and Navigation team, we have a significant role to play in all these areas. We know that we can better support people using the site to find information about their symptoms, understand where to go for help and complete health tasks online and in doing so have a positive impact on the systemic pressures the NHS currently faces.

The NHS website homepage was last redesigned in 2018. Since then, the digital landscape has transformed, and so have the needs of our users. With over 60% of visits now coming from mobile devices, it’s essential to create a mobile-first experience that minimises scrolling and guides users quickly to the information they need. 

The old design no longer aligned with how people interact with digital services today - it wasn’t intuitive, efficient, or focused on what matters most: helping users complete critical health tasks effortlessly. 

There are also barriers and several reasons why people may be unable to use the NHS website. Digital exclusion has the potential of increasing health inequalities, and this increases significantly for marginalised groups. The redesign of the NHS website homepage considered those people who may not have the digital skills and/or confidence to navigate the online environment safely and knowledgeably.

The launch of the first phase of a significant homepage redesign marks the beginning of a new era, which includes:

• an updated look
• content changes
• adjustments to the layout informed by user behaviour
• an overall reduction in length of the homepage

Beyond aesthetic improvements, these updates are about making a meaningful difference in how users interact with the site, allowing them to quickly navigate to the information they need to manage their health.

When users visit the NHS website, they are looking for health information, or to complete one or more key tasks. 

On the previous homepage, several of these tasks were not easy to find:

• ordering prescriptions
• making / managing appointments
• finding and registering with a GP
• accessing medical records and test results

The redesign enables users to complete these tasks easily from the new homepage, while maintaining other journeys that were working well, including:

• finding information on symptoms and conditions
• getting a COVID-19 vaccination
• navigating to search results

Additionally, search analytics showed that demand for certain content changes throughout the year, for example:

• searches for UK Global or European Health Insurance Card (GHIC / EHIC) consistently spike from May to July each year
• searches for information about flu symptoms spike in the winter months from September to December

This research highlighted the need to optimise the homepage based on trends emerging from data at certain times of the year, and sees a new section called 'Featured' which highlights this information during these time periods throughout the year.

The new sections guide people to the information they need:

• manage your health
• featured content
• more information and advice

Webpage links which had low interaction on the homepage were removed to ensure efficient use of space:

• NHS App link - the new 'Manage your health' section provides contextual links to the app to support specific journeys
• health conditions section - information on all conditions can be found in 'Health A-Z'
• healthy living section – 'Live well' information can be found through the header links

We’ve historically placed promotional modules on the homepage to support NHS England commitments. Through the redesign, we saw an opportunity to boost audience engagement with these important messages. We now have a new 'Featured' section to better promote these behavioural change campaigns in the future.

Before going live with the new homepage, it was crucial to validate the new design and 5% of users were given the chance to experience the new homepage. The hypothesis was simple: by focusing the design on key tasks, users would be able to navigate more effectively and complete their objectives without needing to rely on the search function or other navigation methods, such as the header links.

The results were clear and promising. The conversion rate to links increased in the main body of the text. Users are now less likely to rely on other methods to navigate to those key tasks, which will reduce people leaving the website when trying to find the information they need.

This is just the beginning.

A clear measurement framework will guide future decisions, to continually improve the NHS website homepage by using insights from user behaviour, analytics, and testing. Working to continue to iterate the design, fine-tune elements of the homepage to better serve our users. One of the next major goals is to enhance site-wide navigation, particularly through improvements to the Health A-Z section, to make sure that everyone - whether they’re seeking information about symptoms, conditions, or services – can find what they need quickly and easily.