COCA Provider Directory

The Central Ohio Counseling Association needed to make it meaningfully easier for people seeking mental health support to find the right provider. The existing "directory" was a Microsoft Word document: a static list with no search, no filtering, and no way to evaluate fit. It lived on a mostly static site that saw very little traffic.

The provider directory wasn't a redesign. It was a net-new feature added to a site that had no interactive functionality. Finding a therapist is a high-stakes, emotionally loaded decision, and the complete absence of a usable tool was a direct barrier to people getting care.

A Word doc is not a discovery system

The existing provider directory was a downloadable Word document: a flat and outdated list of names and phone numbers with no structure, no filtering, and no way to evaluate whether a provider was a good fit. Most people seeking therapy don't know what to search for. They know how they feel, what kind of support they need, and what practical constraints they have: insurance, location, session format, availability.

• No digital directory at all, just a static Word file linked from an underused site
• No way to filter by insurance accepted, telehealth availability, or sliding-scale fees
• No provider profiles, just names and contact info with no context for decision-making
• The site itself had no interactive features, so there was no existing pattern to build on
• COCA staff regularly fielded calls from people who couldn't find what they needed

The result was that people either called COCA directly for help navigating the list, or gave up before finding a provider at all.

Three decisions that shaped the directory

• Filter-first over search-first. Most people seeking therapy don't know what to search for. The primary entry point became structured filters (insurance, session format, availability) rather than a text search box.
• Human language over clinical labels. Provider profiles were restructured to lead with an "about my approach" statement in the provider's own voice, not a list of credentials. Research showed this drove contact decisions more than any other factor.
• Build new, not retrofit. Rather than trying to add features to a static WordPress site, I designed a standalone interactive directory that could be embedded on the existing site with no dependency on the legacy codebase.

Listening to people in a vulnerable moment

I conducted moderated usability sessions with eight participants who had recently searched for a therapist, some successful in finding one and some not. Sessions combined task-based testing of the existing directory with a semi-structured interview about their real-world search process.

I also audited the existing directory against WCAG 2.1 AA standards and interviewed six COCA staff members who regularly received calls from people who couldn't navigate the site, which proved a rich source of real failure patterns.

What the research revealed

• Trust signals matter more than credentials. Users evaluated providers primarily on: Do they work with my insurance? Do they offer telehealth? What does their approach feel like? Formal credentials were secondary.
• Practical filters were the highest priority. Every participant mentioned insurance and session format as their first filter criteria, yet neither was available in the original UI.
• Profile depth drove contact decisions. Participants were significantly more likely to contact a provider whose profile explained their approach in human language, versus one that listed only specialties.
• The search experience felt clinical and cold. Several participants used the word "scary" when describing having to start over after a failed search.

From search-first to filter-first discovery

The redesigned directory leads with the filters users actually use: insurance, session format (telehealth / in-person / both), availability, and specialty area. Free-text search is still present but no longer the primary path.

Richer, more human provider profiles

Profiles were restructured to lead with the information that drives contact decisions: insurance accepted, session formats, a short "about my approach" statement in the provider's own voice, and clear availability signals. Credentials and clinical details are still present but positioned below the decision-driving content.

Warm, accessible visual design

The visual redesign used a warmer color palette and softer typography to reduce the clinical feel identified in research. All components were rebuilt to meet WCAG 2.1 AA, with proper focus states, sufficient contrast, and a mobile-first layout that works on every screen size.

Content strategy for providers

A key deliverable was a content guide for providers on how to write their "about my approach" statements, giving them a structure that helped users evaluate fit without requiring extensive writing.

An interactive prototype of the redesigned directory. Try the filters, search, and explore the provider results to see the filter-first discovery model in action.

Usability testing of the redesigned prototype showed significant improvement across all primary metrics, with particular gains in task completion and perceived confidence.