Aegis Living
Aegis Living is known for senior care communities where families feel understood and supported. Online, that story wasn't coming through. The site held valuable information, but its structure and tone made the journey feel overwhelming rather than reassuring.
The redesign reshaped it into a guided, warm, and human space that helps families explore locations, compare care options, and feel the essence of Aegis long before they visit.
Role
Senior Visual Designer
Client
Aegis Living
Year
2023
Platform
WordPress
The challenge
A 651-page legacy site serving 35+ communities across Washington, California and Nevada.
No clear path
Families couldn't see where to start or how to reach a decision, and very few visits turned into tour requests.Off brand
Colors and fonts were correct, but layouts didn't reflect the quality of the communities themselves.Two sites in one
Community pages had separate mobile versions, doubling maintenance.Locked content
Marketing needed a developer for even small updates.Hard to compare
Care levels, amenities, and locations lived on scattered pages.
Bringing warmth, clarity, and trust.
Designing for three kinds of visitor
Most visitors are 45 or older, and many arrive in a moment of family pressure. Every decision had to reduce effort, not add to it.
Adult children and caregivers
Usually 45–65, researching for a parent. They look for location first, then care level, availability, and cost.
Future residents
Researching on their own, often less comfortable online. They need larger type, fewer choices per screen, and plain language.
Job seekers
Aegis employs 2,500+ people. Careers needs its own clear route to open roles, benefits, and values.
Process
Four phases took the project from research to a live site, with client reviews at every step.
1. Strategy and planning
Audit of existing patterns and content, brand immersion, competitor review, personas and user journeys.
2. Experience design
Information architecture workshop, template wireframes and hero concepts, narrowed to one direction.
3. Development
15 responsive templates built in sprints, with design reviewing every build against the comps.
4. Deploy and release
Content population, cross-browser QA, launch and a recorded CMS training for the marketing team.
- Information architecture
- Approach deck
- Design concepts
- Template compositions
- Final homepage and key pages
- Launch and training
A clearer journey
Working with UX, we found that families valued the depth of Aegis's information but struggled to understand their options with confidence. We rebuilt the architecture around the questions they actually ask: where, what kind of care, what it's like to live there, and how to take the next step.
Navigation was reduced to six clear entry points, each page closes with one direct action (schedule a tour, view a community, or contact), and 651 legacy pages were distilled into 15 reusable templates.
651
Legacy pages audited
15
Reusable templates
6
Clear entry points
+35
Communities on one system
Visual direction
Aegis already had its brand colors and serif wordmark. The work was in how they were used: a calmer layout, more generous spacing, a light display serif for warmth, and tracked capitals for wayfinding. Offset blue rules, like the ones on this page, pace long scrolls and hand the eye from section to section.
Building blocks
A modular system of hero sections, care-level cards, amenity grids, room cards, comparison modules, and lead forms scales across 35+ community pages. Contrast, type size, spacing, and interaction states were reviewed on every template so the site works for visitors of any age or digital comfort.
Homepage
Built to answer the first questions in the order families ask them.
Care levels first, then the home itself, then proof from residents.
Testimonials and awards build trust before any form appears.
A tour prompt is never more than a scroll away.
Community template
One layout serves every location, so 35+ pages stay consistent and easy to update.
A sticky bar keeps the virtual tour, floor plans, and scheduling within reach.
Apartment types and amenity icons make the offer easy to scan.
A nearby places map and a lead form close the page.
Careers
Aegis hires year-round across every community, so job seekers have a route of their own from the homepage and footer, rather than a buried listing.
Built to show what working at Aegis feels like before asking anyone to apply.
A video hero, employee stories and awards lead with culture.
Benefits, the Elevate growth program and hiring events answer why Aegis.
Open positions close the page, filtered by category, job type, community and location, with a call or text line for anyone unsure where to start.
The feature Aegis loved most
Find it on a map
Families don't search for senior living by brand name; they search by place: near a parent's home, close to their own work, in a city they already know. The finder puts every community on an interactive map, filtered by state, city, community, or amenity, or centered on any address.
Recognition over recall
No community names or zip codes to remember. Visitors orient themselves through neighborhoods, highways, and landmarks they already know.
Context builds confidence
Malls, cafés, parks, museums, and hotels appear around each community. A family can see that Mom will live near her favorite Starbucks, or that relatives have somewhere to stay, before booking a tour.
Two ways to browse
A map and list toggle respects different mental models. Some people explore spatially; others scan cards. Both lead to the same compare and overview actions.
Find and compare
From either view, any community can go into a tray and be compared with up to two others side by side.
A persistent tray collects choices while visitors keep browsing.
Features and amenities line up in columns for a quick read.
When the limit is reached, the page says so plainly instead of failing silently.
Life at Aegis
Resources, activities and leadership pages give families the context behind a decision.
A resource hub with search and topic filters for planning the move.
A sample daily schedule shows what a day actually looks like.
Leadership bios put faces to the people running each community.
What the design solved
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| No clear place to start | Six entry points built around family questions, and one clear next step closing every page. |
| Didn't feel premium | A calmer visual system with generous space, a light serif and full-bleed photography of real communities. |
| Separate mobile pages | One responsive template per page type, designed for every breakpoint. |
| Developer needed for edits | Modular components the marketing team can assemble and update in the CMS, with recorded training. |
| Options scattered across pages | An interactive map with nearby places, a list view and a side-by-side comparison of up to three communities. |
| Careers buried | A dedicated careers route from the homepage and footer. |
“She came in, designed beautifully, and continued to support Dev and Design long after her role would have been completed.”
Kyleene Finley, Creative Director
The new site gives Aegis a clearer, calmer, and more accessible experience that finally reflects the care its communities are known for, built on a system the team can keep growing.
The Team
Creative Director — Kyleene Finley
Copywriter — Ben Sampson
Senior Visual Designer — Valeria Diaz
UX Designer — Fran Ramirez
Developer — Sean Cesmat
Project Manager — Jessica Melnik
