Che Simpson

Overview

Open Arms is a branch of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Open Arms is Australia’s national mental health service for current and former Australian Defence Force (ADF) members and their families, offering free, confidential counselling, support programs (individual, couples, family), peer support, crisis support, and online tools to help with trauma, depression, PTSD, anxiety, and relationship issues, available 24/7 via phone or online.

Problem

Open Arms was in the process of changing their name from Vietnam Veterans’ Counselling Service (VVCS). At the time, one of their websites, AT-Ease, required a re-design.

Solution

In the redesign of At-Ease, a platform dedicated to helping veterans transition to civilian life, the UX strategy focused on “Cognitive Ease”—reducing the mental effort required to find critical information.

The core components of the home page were redesigned.

1. Navigation

Navigation acts as the site’s skeletal structure.

• The redesign: I replaced a cluttered, 20-item menu with a menu focussed on content and purpose.
• Key UX change: I moved the “Get help now” button to the top-right in a persistent drop down, ensuring that the most critical path was always accessible regardless of where the user scrolled.

2. Primary headline, sub-headline, and CTA

This is the “Hero” content that establishes immediate value.

• The redesign:
  • Headline: I added the primary goal.
  • Sub-headline: This was a further explanatory statement that builds on the knowledge provided int he headline.
  • CTA: A large, primary button labeled “Find out more.”
• UX change: I placed this under the primary navigation, placing the CTA where the user’s eye naturally ends its first scan, increasing click-through rates by 22% during testing.

3. Target audience and how we help

Explicitly stating who the site is for and how we help prevents “bounce” from irrelevant visitors.

• The redesign: Below the hero, I added a “We’re here to help” section with three distinct audiences underneath.
• UX change: This segmenting allowed users to self-identify immediately, creating a personalised experience from the very first scroll.

4. Services provided

This section details the functional utility of the site.

• The redesign: I used a list based layout with icons representing the core services.
• UX change: Each item used “progressive disclosure”—showing a heading, brief summary text, and a link to a deeper page, preventing the home page from feeling like a wall of text.

5. Social proof (Video)

Social proof builds credibility through the experiences of others.

• The redesign: I embedded a 120-second video.
• UX change: Instead of a generic “About Us” video, this featured real users speaking about their experiences.

6. CTAs to content

These guide users who need quick access but may not be familiar with the site.

• The redesign: I added a grid showing buttons to the content.
• UX change: These secondary CTAs were in a different section to the primary CTA to ensure they didn’t compete.

7. The offering (email & mail)

This component focuses on long-term user retention.

• The redesign:
  • Email subscription
  • Mail order
• UX change: I placed this just above the footer. By offering a physical mail-order item alongside a digital subscription, we catered to the tangible needs of the target audience, significantly increasing mailing list growth while catering to unique veterans’ needs.