The Partner
Te Whatu Ora is a government organisation providing essential health services to New Zealanders. Its Health Promotion directorate hosts over 20 websites with national campaigns and information on harm prevention and the promotion of healthy lives. Te Whatu Ora oversees national campaigns such as Smokefree, aiming to reduce smoking rates through accessible services, evidence-based resources, and education. Their digital platforms are a key part of this effort, guiding individuals on their quitting journey while supporting communities, whānau, and healthcare providers with reliable information.
Data Story Services
Conversion Rate Optimisation
Analytics & Tracking
Website Development
Quick wins
percent increase in engagement rate
percent increase in form submission
percent increase in views from active users
The Challenge
Te Whatu Ora wanted to ensure the Smokefree website was playing its part in helping New Zealanders quit smoking. The broader goal was to consolidate their two key platforms — Smokefree and Quitstrong — into a more effective digital ecosystem.
Smokefree was selected to become the core platform moving forward. With traffic already flowing from organic search and national campaigns, the next step was to improve user engagement and increase the number of people finding help by creating clearer pathways for key user groups.
The users included individuals wanting to quit, partners supporting others, and fact-finders. The site needed to cater to all three groups while leveraging analytics to shape content and IA decisions.
In particular, the homepage and services page showed (through data analysis using GA4) opportunities to increase impact, but both suffered from unclear navigation, low engagement on key CTAs, and underutilised tools.
The strategy
We used behavioural analytics to guide UX improvements and find key opportunities.
What we did:
After several weeks of research and recommendation workshops, we delivered strategic insights to Te Whatu Ora for implementation across UX, content, and navigation updates.
1. Homepage Redesign Recommendations
By drawing on behavioural data, we identified that key homepage CTAs were underperforming, with low engagement and minimal scroll depth beyond the hero section. Our analysis showed that users struggled to find quitting services, facts, and resources from the homepage, indicating that the current layout did not effectively support their visit goals. We recommended restructuring it to prioritise CTAs for quitting services, facts, and downloadable resources. This included visual simplification, clearer CTA blocks, and segmented navigation to match user intent.
2. Services Page Optimisation
As the second most viewed page, the Services page was a key conversion opportunity. Our analysis revealed strong user engagement on this page, with nearly 50% of users interacting with the embedded map and several taking direct actions such as phone calls or emails. This indicated that visitors were highly engaged and actively seeking support to quit smoking. We recommended enhancing the page's utility by adding features like list views, location search bars, clickable phone/email CTAs, and clearer service details (e.g. online/in-person tags) to make these interactions easier and more effective.
3. Cross-Site Pathway Design
Vaping-related content was among the most viewed and referred to across the three sites (Smokefree, Quitstrong, and Vaping Facts). We proposed new linking strategies to surface vaping support as a quit method more clearly and align content across domains.
1. Homepage Redesign Recommendations
By drawing on behavioural data, we identified that key homepage CTAs were underperforming, with low engagement and minimal scroll depth beyond the hero section. Our analysis showed that users struggled to find quitting services, facts, and resources from the homepage, indicating that the current layout did not effectively support their visit goals. We recommended restructuring it to prioritise CTAs for quitting services, facts, and downloadable resources. This included visual simplification, clearer CTA blocks, and segmented navigation to match user intent.
2. Services Page Optimisation
As the second most viewed page, the Services page was a key conversion opportunity. Our analysis revealed strong user engagement on this page, with nearly 50% of users interacting with the embedded map and several taking direct actions such as phone calls or emails. This indicated that visitors were highly engaged and actively seeking support to quit smoking. We recommended enhancing the page's utility by adding features like list views, location search bars, clickable phone/email CTAs, and clearer service details (e.g. online/in-person tags) to make these interactions easier and more effective.
3. Cross-Site Pathway Design
Vaping-related content was among the most viewed and referred to across the three sites (Smokefree, Quitstrong, and Vaping Facts). We proposed new linking strategies to surface vaping support as a quit method more clearly and align content across domains.
The results
Results demonstrate significant improvements in engagement, conversion, and user interaction.
Key conversion actions including: form submissions, map interactions, and direct service contact have all increased markedly. This signals that the new UX and content structure are successfully guiding users to take meaningful next steps.
We’ve also seen notable improvements in core engagement metrics, including views per active user and overall engagement rate. These changes validate the effectiveness of using behavioural analytics and strategic IA updates to better serve the needs of Smokefree’s key audiences.
The site is now better aligned with intent, supports conversion-focused navigation, and sets a strong foundation for further improvements as traffic ramps up in future high-season periods.
Key metrics include:
- +26% Increase in views per active user
- +12% Engagement rate increase
- +187% Increase in form submissions
- +162% increase in clicks to email
- +61% increase in clicks to call
Before
After
Key Takeaways
Data Analysis Informed Strategic UX Decisions
By comparing SEO metrics, traffic insights, user flow behaviour, and content performance, we identified key pages to focus on.
Design for Segmented Audiences
Creating clear UX pathways for different user types (quitters, partners, fact-seekers) increases engagement and supports mission-driven outcomes.
Cross-Site Integration Drives User Experience Improvements
Strategically linking high-demand pages (e.g. vaping content) across trusted domains boosts relevance and keeps users within the Te Whatu Ora ecosystem.
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