The problem

NatCon markets itself almost entirely on scale and credibility — 5,000+ attendees, 500+ speakers, 150+ CE credit opportunities — but that scale is also the page's biggest liability. Stats, a highlight video, a six-part "what to expect" pitch, a 12-role audience list, exhibitor and sponsor info, and a newsletter signup all stack into one long scroll with no hierarchy steering a first-time visitor toward the one action that matters: joining the interest list or registering.

What I had

A single long-scroll WordPress page: hero with dates/location and a waitlist CTA → testimonial + highlight video → "NatCon by the numbers" stat band → six-part "What to expect" benefit grid → "Who attends" audience list → closing newsletter signup. Strong content, but every section read at the same visual weight, so nothing told a visitor what to do first.

IA & content decisions

• Hero: Leads immediately with concrete when/where (Apr 12–14, 2027 · New Orleans) and one primary CTA above the fold, instead of opening with brand description that delays the decision a visitor actually came to make.
• "By the numbers" stat band: Pulled up high in the scroll as social proof — 5,000+ attendees, 500+ speakers, 200+ exhibitors — so credibility lands before anyone has to read paragraph copy.
• "What to expect" grid: Restructured six benefit statements (cutting-edge insight, dynamic learning, all-star speakers, non-stop networking, advance your career, wellbeing in mind) into a paired photo+text grid instead of a flat list, so each benefit does emotional work rather than just informational.
• "Who attends" section: Converted a dense paragraph naming 12 job functions into a scannable chip cloud, so a peer specialist or policy advocate can self-identify in a glance instead of reading past five other roles first.
• Persistent in-page nav: Program / Registration / CE Credits / Exhibit & Sponsor / FAQ surfaced as an always-visible sub-nav rather than buried only in a dropdown, since long conference pages lose visitors who can't jump straight to the section they need.
• Newsletter capture: Kept as a low-friction secondary path for the large segment not ready to register yet — framed as joining the interest list for the following year's conference.

Hero recreation rebuilt from the live page's hero, stats, and audience content for this case study.

Key functions carried across the redesign

• A persistent "Join the interest list / Register" CTA stays above the fold at every breakpoint.
• CE/CME credit count surfaces early — it's a top decision driver for licensed clinicians deciding whether the trip is worth the cost.
• The audience self-identification section stays high enough in the scroll to reassure niche roles (peer specialists, policy advocates, tech/innovation partners) the event is built for them too, not just clinicians.

The problem

NatCon sells itself on scale and connection — "non-stop networking," 150+ CE credit opportunities, 500+ speakers — but none of that scale comes with an onsite tool to act on it. Attendees choose among a dozen concurrent sessions from a printed program, track CE/CME hours by hand, and try to find the right people to meet in a room of 5,000 strangers with no way to narrow the search.

Research objectives

Through interviews with past attendees, I wanted to understand how people actually choose between concurrent sessions onsite, how they currently track CE/CME credit hours across a multi-day conference, and what "good networking" looks like at a 5,000-person event beyond trading business cards.

Research insights

Personas

Persona #1

The first-time attendee

Came for the content and the credits. The scale of the conference is exciting and a little overwhelming at the same time.

Maria

Licensed Clinical Social Worker · 34 · Tucson, AZ

Bio

Maria's employer is covering her trip on the condition she comes back with CE credits toward her license renewal. She printed the program in advance and highlighted six sessions, but three of them overlap and she's not sure how to choose without missing the keynote. She wants the conference to tell her what's worth her time, not just list everything that's happening.

"I don't want to guess my way through 12 sessions happening at once."

Motivations

• Leave with enough CE credits to justify the trip
• Build a schedule with no regretted conflicts
• Feel confident navigating an event this size

Frustrations

• Overlapping sessions force last-minute tradeoffs
• No running tally of credits earned so far
• Hard to tell which sessions are filling up

Needs

• A personal schedule that flags conflicts before they happen
• An automatic CE credit count as she reserves sessions
• A quick way to see remaining spots per session

Persona #2

The repeat networker

Has attended NatCon for years. Knows the content will be good — what he's optimizing for now is who he meets.

Marcus

Program Director, Regional Behavioral Health Nonprofit · 45 · Richmond, VA

Bio

Marcus comes back every year specifically to meet peers, potential funders, and collaborators — the sessions are secondary. He's good at the in-person conversation, but finding the right person to start one with, in a room of 5,000 strangers wearing the same lanyard, is the part that wastes his time.

"Give me five relevant people, not a directory of five thousand."

Motivations

• Meet a handful of genuinely relevant peers each trip
• Build relationships that outlast the conference
• Spend less time scanning a crowd, more time talking

Frustrations

• No way to filter attendees by role or focus area
• Business cards get lost before follow-up happens
• Can't tell who's already connected vs. a cold approach

Needs

• A filterable attendee directory by track/role
• A lightweight "connect" action that doesn't require swapping cards
• A clear view of who he's already met this trip

How might we

Ideation & information architecture

A single shared shell (Home, Schedule, Speakers, Network, Account) — unlike the dual-mode split used for other concept apps, NatCon attendees don't split into structurally different roles, so one IA serves first-timers and repeat networkers alike. Core flows: find and reserve a session → track CE credits automatically → filter the attendee directory by track and connect.

Focused sitemap

One shell, five spokes — no dual-mode split needed when every attendee uses the same tabs.

User flow — reserving a session and exporting it to calendar

Eight steps, no decision-tree branching — the two teal steps (Reserve, CE credit) happen automatically once a session is tapped, with no separate manual-tracking step.

Laying the foundation

Early wireframes focused on the three things research called out directly: a schedule that prevents conflicts before they happen, a CE credit count that updates itself, and an attendee list that narrows before it asks anyone to search.

Early low-fidelity wireframes for the three highest-priority screens, before branding was applied.

High-fidelity prototype

Four final screens carrying the wireframes into branded, production-ready UI — each solving a job research surfaced directly: finding session times, speakers finding what they're presenting, members finding peers, and exhibitors reserving booth space.

High-fidelity concept · iPhone 16 · 390 × 852 pt.

Key functions

• Session scheduler & calendar export — build a personal schedule across all three days and export it straight to the phone's calendar.
• Automatic CE/CME credit tracking — credit hours tally as sessions are reserved, replacing the manual count attendees described keeping themselves.
• Track-filtered attendee directory — filter by Clinical, Executive, Policy, Peer, or Research before searching by name.
• Speaker directory — bios and full session lists per speaker, linked directly from any session card.
• Schedule conflict warnings — flags overlapping reservations before they happen, instead of after.

Branding

Carries the live NatCon identity forward — the teal "N" mark, navy header, and the "Where innovation meets action" tagline — so the app reads as "the conference, now in your pocket" rather than a separate product. Wordmark: NatCon 2027, teal underline accent matching the parent brand's primary color.

Testing objectives

Validate automatic CE tracking — would attendees trust an in-app tally enough to stop keeping their own count? Validate track-first filtering — does narrowing by role before search actually make a 5,000-person directory feel usable?

Usability results

(Concept — framed around expected validation criteria rather than shipped data.)

Testers responded most positively to seeing CE credits tally automatically per session, with several saying they'd stop keeping a personal tally entirely. First-time attendees flagged track-based filtering as the single change that made the attendee list feel approachable rather than overwhelming.

Iterations

The Network tab originally opened on a searchable list, name-first. The insight that browsing 5,000 names felt paralyzing pushed filter chips (track/role) above the search bar, so narrowing happens before typing anything.

Takeaways

The biggest opportunity wasn't a flashier session catalog — it was turning the website's own promises (scale, networking, CE credit access) into onsite tools that actually deliver on them in the room, not just in marketing copy. Tracking CE credit automatically and narrowing the attendee list by track both solve the same underlying problem: a 5,000-person event needs the app to do the filtering a human can't do alone.

Nice to haves

• Push notifications tied to a reserved session starting soon, not generic engagement pings.
• Offline schedule access, since convention-center wifi is unreliable at this scale.
• Year-over-year CE credit history for attendees who return to NatCon annually.