HearPeers homepage screenshot
HearPeers
Website
A UX perspective
Prepared by Coopers Digital · March 2026
How we looked at it
  • You shared analytics data on four key pages — we started there
  • Then we reviewed the pages directly: navigation, flows, calls to action
  • We don't have Matomo access yet, so everything here is a hypothesis — but a grounded one
🔍
What the data tells us
Page What's working What isn't
Home Good bounce rate · Decent traffic Low ATP · High exit
Connect with a Mentor OK bounce rate · Decent ATP High exit · Load time
Hearing Journey OK bounce rate · OK exit Very high load time
Hearing Stories Good ATP · Good bounce rate High exit rate
ATP = Average Time on Page
HearPeers homepage
hearpeers.com / Home
Finding 01
Routing page,
not an engagement page
  • 6 competing sections, 6 different CTAs — no clear primary action
  • Users scan the nav, click directly to what they want, and leave
  • The homepage is doing the navigation bar's job
Hypothesis: Low ATP + high exit = users deciding immediately, not exploring
Hearing Stories page
hearpeers.com / Hearing Stories
Finding 02
Engaged —
but not guided
  • Best-performing page: good ATP, good bounce rate, good load time
  • Users read the stories. Then the page ends.
  • No "connect with someone like this author." No "join the community." No next step.
Highest-leverage fix on the site — warm audience, zero exit cost
Connect with a Mentor page
hearpeers.com / Connect with a Mentor
Finding 03
Two paths.
No clear winner.
  • Path A: Browse the mentor grid, apply filters yourself
  • Path B: Answer 4 questions, get matched automatically
  • Users must choose before they've committed to anything
  • The better path (questionnaire) is buried below the grid
Hypothesis: decision paralysis at the moment of commitment = exit
Hearing Journey page
hearpeers.com / Hearing Journey
Finding 04
Great content.
Slow to arrive.
  • Bounce, traffic, and exit rate are all acceptable
  • The single problem: very high page load time
  • Multiple video embeds + two image grids loading simultaneously
  • Users who make it through — stay
Primarily a technical fix: lazy loading, video thumbnails, image optimisation
Join button dropdown
The "Join" dropdown
Flow from button
Resulting flow
Finding 05
The main CTA is a menu.
With a broken entry.
  • "Join The Community" opens a dropdown — unexpected interaction
  • "Join the community" — title, not a link. Nothing happens. ⚠️
  • "Login with MyMED-EL" — community login (also shown to new users)
  • "Join the Community" — marketing page, then one more click
Two options with near-identical names doing different things
Finding 06
Three platforms. One login.
hearpeers.medel.com
Website
redirects
community.hearpeers.com
Community platform
popup
auth.login.medel.com
Login window
⚠ Popup
  • Popup windows are blocked by most modern browsers — silently, with no error
  • Third domain in a popup looks like phishing in a medical context
  • "Don't have an account? Sign up" inside the popup → creates a myMED-EL account, not a Community account
The pages work.
The journey doesn't.
The website, the Community, and the authentication system were built at different times. Each part is reasonable on its own. Together, they don't form a path. There's no thread guiding users from first visit to Community membership — or from reading a story to connecting with its author.
Most fixes are design and copy changes. The authentication issue requires development.
Before we design anything
  • 01
    What are the website's goals?
    Awareness? Community conversion? Mentor matching? All three?
  • 02
    Who is the primary user?
    Newly diagnosed, post-implant, caregiver — or are you designing for all simultaneously?
  • 03
    What is the website's role in the HearPeers mix?
    How does it relate to the Community, HearBetter, newsletters, and other channels?
Your answers shape every design decision.
Speaker notes