BHS
Role
UX/UI Designer
Client
TYIA (non-profit)
Timeline
2023–2024
Team
Internationally distributed
Overview
TYIA (Transforming Youths into Adults) is a non-profit offering behavioral health services for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and mental illness. Their BHS services were buried inside a general website — we were brought in to give them a dedicated, standalone presence.
I worked within an international cross-functional team of PMs, researchers, and designers alongside the TYIA CEO and developers. My role spanned IA, mood boards, and low-to-high fidelity mockups — with a particular focus on getting the information architecture right for a highly sensitive audience.
The challenge
The previous site had no analytics — no qualitative data, no usage insights, nothing to build from. And given the sensitivity of the clientele — children and adults navigating mental illness and intellectual disabilities — extensive user interviews or surveys weren't feasible.
We had to design a 28-page website from scratch, on a tight timeline, without traditional research. Our solution: lean on cognitive design principles and established psychological research instead.
Our approach
Instead of user research we couldn't do, we applied four cognitive design principles backed by psychological research. Each principle addressed a specific design problem — from first impressions to form complexity to navigation patterns.
This wasn't a workaround. It was a deliberate decision to use what we knew about human cognition to compensate for what we couldn't learn through primary research.
Design decisions
Aesthetic Usability Effect
Creating a positive first impression
A captivating hero grabs attention immediately — especially critical for a health services site where trust is everything. We designed for comfort and professionalism from the first scroll: intentional imagery, clear hierarchy, and a warm but clinical tone. Aesthetics here weren't decoration — they were a trust signal.
Jakob's Law
Accordion FAQ over sidebar navigation
We initially explored a sidebar with page anchors for the FAQ — useful for jumping between sections without scrolling. But for the size of our FAQ, the sidebar consumed valuable screen space and created responsive design challenges. We switched to accordion-style — a pattern users already know. Familiarity reduces friction, especially for users already navigating a stressful situation.
Original — sidebar nav
Occupied too much space, hard to implement responsively.
Revised — accordion ✓
Familiar pattern. Frees space. Easier for developers.
Tesler's Law + Hick's Law
Reducing cognitive load on intake forms
Online medical forms are notorious for overwhelming users — complex terminology, too many fields, and decision fatigue. We applied Tesler's Law (absorb complexity on the system side) and Hick's Law (fewer choices = faster decisions) to redesign the intake flow. Pre-filled fields, smart suggestions, and progressive disclosure let users focus on one question at a time rather than facing a wall of inputs.
Miller's Law + Jakob's Law
Chunking the events page
The events page had a potential edge case: what happens when there are many events? A long list overwhelms. We took cues from Instagram and Amazon — load a digestible set first, then reveal more on demand. Miller's Law tells us users can hold roughly 7 items in working memory at once. Combined with Jakob's Law (use patterns people already know), pagination felt natural, not limiting.
Results
Despite limited research and a tight timeline, the team delivered a complete, handoff-ready design system with full documentation for the development team.
28
Page website design delivered
8
Distinct user flows documented with screen flow charts
32
Screens with full specs, annotations, and redlines
HIPAA
Compliance requirements called out throughout
My contribution
Information Architecture
Mapped the full IA for optimal functionality and user flow — ensuring that users navigating sensitive health decisions could always find what they needed without frustration.
Visual Direction
Contributed to mood boards that shaped the visual tone of the site — calm, trustworthy, and distinctly separate from the parent TYIA brand while remaining related.
Low to Hi-fi Mockups
Crafted the full range of mockups — from early wireframes communicating layout and flow, through to high-fidelity screens ready for developer handoff.
Reflection
This project taught me that constraints don't have to compromise quality — sometimes they force better decisions. Without user research to fall back on, every design choice had to be grounded in something defensible.
Cognitive design principles gave us that foundation. They're not a replacement for user research — but when research isn't possible, they're the most responsible alternative. Understanding human cognition and behaviour is design, at its core.
What's next
Post-launch monitoring
Once the TYIA BHS site is live, the team will monitor user experience through analytics and feedback — making design iterations to continuously improve the experience for a sensitive and underserved audience.