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The existing provider directory was a downloadable Word document: a flat and outdated list of names and phone numbers with no structure, no filtering, and no way to evaluate whether a provider was a good fit.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.

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

• 01

  Filter-first, not 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.

• 02

  Human language, not clinical labels

  Profiles 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.

• 03

  Build new, don't retrofit

  Rather than adding features to a static WordPress site, I designed a standalone directory that could be embedded 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

• 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 walkthrough of the directory as it shipped. Try the filters, search, and explore the provider results to see the filter-first discovery model in action.

Usability testing of the redesign showed significant improvement across all primary metrics, with particular gains in task completion and perceived confidence. The directory shipped, replacing the Word document entirely.

After launch, the site it lived on saw its traffic grow by more than 400%. A directory people could actually use turned a page nobody visited into the reason they came.