Humanized care in pharmacies stems from the service provided when customers seek advice for their concerns or are in delicate health situations. This approach, combined with a pleasant environment, offers benefits such as increased customer satisfaction, which can lead to loyalty, an enhanced pharmacy image, and differentiation in a competitive market.
Rapha gained experience working in large pharmacy chains and noticed that customers were often not well served beyond what was prescribed and dispensed.
Thus, Rapha Farma was born—a place of trust, deeply connected to the local community. In addition to selling medicines, the pharmacy is dedicated to fostering genuine relationships with its customers. The website redesign project seeks to reflect the same quality and welcoming atmosphere of the physical store in the digital space, with empathetic communication and accessible services.
“Unlike the big chains, Rapha Farma is a neighborhood pharmacy. And unlike some neighborhood pharmacies, Rapha Farma is truly a humanized pharmacy.”
Raphaela Araújo
01/ The Current Site
Rapha Farma’s current website has several positive aspects, such as personalized text that reflects its close ties to the community. Key pages, such as “About Us,” “Services,” and “Contact,” which are essential for an institutional website, are present. Additionally, the functionality of ordering medicines via WhatsApp enhances customer convenience.
However, the website does not align with the pharmacy’s visual identity and lacks elements that reflect its welcoming and personalized service. The design fails to capture the charm of the physical store, which could be enhanced to better convey the essence of the brand.
02/ New Website Design Approach
👤 Users: Caratinga is a commercial city (in its center) and a family farming city (in its districts). Rapha’s customers are simple, hard-working people, from local businessmen to farmers. As the city is crossed by the Rio-Bahia highway, one of the main roads in the country, the pharmacy, located in a strategic district, also serves travelers passing through the region.
👁️ Point Of View (POV)
🧑🏽🌾 Manuel Januário: One cold morning, I woke up with intense back pain after a hard day’s work in the fields. In need of quick relief, I drove into town and stopped at a large pharmacy in the center. However, the place was crowded, and the clerks were rushing around, barely paying attention to me. On my way home, to make the trip worthwhile, I ran a few errands and then noticed Rapha Farma. I decided to stop in.
The attendant listened to me patiently and recommended an analgesic and an anti-inflammatory cream, along with tips on stretching to prevent future pain. Back in the countryside, I was back at work within a few hours, relieved and satisfied. Since then, I’ve relied on Rapha Farma to care for my health and that of my family.
👩🏽💼 Luana Borges: On a day packed with appointments, I woke up with a severe migraine. I tried a pharmacy near my house, but the long queue and unhelpful staff left me frustrated. Then I remembered Rapha Farma and decided to go there. The clerk recommended a migraine painkiller and shared a few recipes for relaxing teas. Before long, the pain subsided, and I was able to carry on with my meetings. Since then, Rapha Farma has been my trusted choice for health care.
👱🏼♂️ Lucas Viveros: After a long and tiring journey, I realized I had forgotten to take my blood pressure medication. As my blood pressure began to rise, I searched for a pharmacy near the hotel and found Rapha Farma. I was greeted promptly, and when I explained my situation, the clerk responded with empathy and understanding. She helped me find the correct medication and also offered advice on managing stress and maintaining healthy blood pressure levels.
The speed and quality of the service impressed me so much that I now consider Rapha Farma my go-to pharmacy whenever I’m in town, for both my own and my daughter’s health needs.
📚 Gaby Matos: During the week of final exams, my anxiety kept me up at night, and the next day I couldn’t concentrate on my studies. Worried, I went to a pharmacy in search of something to help me, but I left frustrated because the rushed service only made me more nervous. On the way home, I decided to try Rapha Farma, where the clerk listened patiently, shared what her day was like, and recommended a floral remedy for anxiety along with a relaxing tea to drink before bed. She also suggested simple breathing techniques for the most tense moments. With her help, I was able to rest better and focus on my studies.
🎨 The identity of the site:
➡️ Clear and accessible: Avoid technical jargon and use language that conveys trust and empathy.
➡️ User assistance: CTAs offering customer service via chat or telephone, accessible on every page, always with the option for human interaction in case of more complex questions.
➡️ Harmonized look and identity: The physical store and the website should share a consistent visual identity, conveying the same sense of trust and care.
➡️ Real and representative images: Use photography of real people instead of generic models to humanize the brand.
➡️ Friendly typography and icons: Simple, easy-to-understand icons and legible typography to reinforce the feeling of closeness.
03/ Benchmarking
We didn’t find websites for small pharmacies, only for large chains. The websites of these chains are focused on e-commerce, prioritizing the sale of products. Institutional websites for pharmacies are rare. The e-commerces we analyzed tend to have too much information, even though they fulfill their purpose of selling.
Unlike e-commerces, Rede Soma’s website is institutional. Its main purpose is to attract independent pharmacies to join it, offering advantages such as support for expansion. The page highlights the benefits of being part of a large chain, including improvements in management, marketing and product negotiation.
Rapha Farma’s new website can adopt a more welcoming and modern design, using the color palette and typography defined in its branding. It can also optimize the site with more promotional calls-to-action and spaces for user interaction. Adding a blog can generate relevant content and attract leads. Existing text can be optimized, reinforcing the connection with the local community and strengthening the brand’s identity. To improve accessibility, we can add a search bar to make navigation easier, allowing visitors to quickly find what they need.
04/ Styles
05/ Proposal
06/ Future projects
In the future, Rapha could turn its website into an e-commerce site, allowing it to sell medicines and health products online. It could also offer a dedicated space for info-products, such as e-books on humanized pharmacy.
Rapha’s e-commerce can be designed with a simple layout that reflects its warmth and humanization, avoiding the visual pollution common in other pharmacy e-commerces. In this way, the essence of the brand will be maintained, while still providing a shopping experience that is compatible with the market.
Some sections can be optimized, such as
➡️ Menu header with login and shopping cart areas
➡️ Homepage with product card sections
Other sections can be created, such as
➡️ Login area
➡️ Shop, Products and Check-Out page
