Agenda

• Situations to keep in mind• Elements of visual and user experience design• Group crit of top health sites• Process – design activities• People and roles• Tips/resources for success• Q&A

What’s important to keep in mind when

designing a health-related site?

Possible situations

Consumer user:

• emotional

• personal

• research-mode

• urgent

Professional user:

• busy

• urgent

• research-mode

What does the site need to convey?

• Professional• Helpful• Trustworthy

How can design help?

Design gives form.

Form influences perception.

Perception influences behavior.

Elements of visual design on the web

• Organization of elements on the page (layout)• Feedback of interactive elements• Colors• Type styles and hierarchy• Presentation of navigation• Tone of voice• Choice and use of imagery• Identity elements• Style of affordances

Elements of user experience on the web

http://www.jjg.net/elements/pdf/elements.pdf

Web as software (applications)

Web as linked content

Web as software (applications)

15

• Driven by databases

• Developers may create

working applications first

• More about “doing” and

less about reading

• Use of “patterns” is key

Web as software (applications)

15

• Interaction andUI design play major roles in giving form

• Interaction and UI design as scaffolding for visual design

• Designers anddevelopers working closely together

• Visual design as“skin”

Web as linked content

15

• Driven by content

• Designers may be able to do development/site production

• More about finding content than contributing (less interactive)

• Information architecture plays a major role

Elements in the context of designing for health-related sites

Professional

Clear– Presentation of up-front value proposition

Consistent – navigation, language, behavior

Organized– hierarchical structures for page content and type,

restricted color palette

Appropriate– imagery that supports content

Trustworthy

• Limited, relevant advertising• Appropriate use of professionally designed logo• No fake photos• Real credentials, appropriately displayed

Helpful

• Appropriate language level• Accessible – download time, use of alt tags, use of

colors, type sizes appropriate for audience• Foreshadowing – UI cues to indicate clickability, other

behaviors• Transparent structure

The elements in practice – how do the top health sites do?

10 Most Popular Health Websites | July 2010Derived from eBizMBA Rank which is an average of each website's Alexa Global Traffic Rank, and U.S. Traffic Rank from both Compete and Quantcast.

1. Yahoo! Health (6th last year) • WebMD.com (1st)• NIH.gov (2nd)• MedicineNet.com (3rd)• MayoClinic.com (4th)• Drugs.com (5th)• EverydayHealth (not in top 10)• WrongDiagnosis (not in top 10)

• MedHelp.org (9th)• HealthGrades (not in top 10)

http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/health-websites

Things are changing fast

• The social aspect of health is changing. Rather than keep

information secret, people WANT to share to help others

and further cures.

• Patients are driving change (not Doctors)

• Lots of activity around design and healthcare – some

specialization

• People are too important to leave out of the process –

designing the experience is important

Process: how it is done

Typical web application/site process

1. business need established and verified

2. user characteristics identified

3. site/application goals set – metrics for success

4. budget/timeframe established

5. content/features identified and documented at a high level

6. goals for visual/UI defined

7. site design – IA, UI and visual

8. usability testing

9. content development/engineering

10. testing/deploying

11. repeat steps as needed

Design activities

1. Kickoff• confirm business goals, users, metrics for success, deliverables,

timeframe/budget, content, user types/personas2. Up-front research if needed

• baseline usability testing (test existing site), user observations, interviews

3. Define structure• site map• wireframe sketches or quick HTML prototype• define page templates if CMS/application

4. Define/confirm feature design if application• wireframe/schematic sketches• prototype• usability testing (recommended)

Design activities, continued

5. Identity design (would be done concurrently with #3)• separate kickoff for identity design unless simple/basic effort

6. Visual design• separate kickoff to define requirements for brand

presentation• creation of 3-4 visual directions applied to sample

pages/page templates• typically @ 12 templates or page types

7. Create all final deliverables• shoot photos, create and specify all graphics, animations• document type specifications, page templates• color palette, HTML/CSS• deliver complete site and/or style guide and image assets

Who does what?

• Visual designer – presentation of content, style, identity, “brand”

• Information architect – site structure, wireframes, maybe prototype development and testing

• Interaction designer – feature definition, behaviors (applications), wireframes, maybe prototype development and testing

• Interface designer – (applications) presentation of functional elements, icon systems, type hierarchy, presentation of data, prototype development and maybe testing

• Usability professional – assures accessibility, tests task completion, interface, navigation

• User experience designer – skills in all to some degree. Ideally has deep skill/experience in one. May not have any visual design training. May come from humanities, library science, writing background

What to look for in a design professional

• Visual designer – AIGA affiliation, BFA/MFA in graphic design. Focus on web over print. Work that shows a relationship to your site, ability to communicate clearly about what they provide and their process, capable of putting user needs ahead of visual treatment

• Information architect – AIA, UPA affiliation, sample wireframes/prototypes for comparable projects. Team skills

• Interaction designer – IxDA affiliation, degree from a design/architecture program. Possibly computer science background. Ability to demonstrate how their designs help users and solve business problems. Experience doing testing/research.

What to look for in a design professional, continued

• Interface designer – ACM SIG-CHI/UPA/AIGA affiliation. Sample work that fits the scope of your project and is aesthetically appropriate and attractive. Ability to clearly articulate their process

• Usability professional – UPA affiliation. Demonstrated sensitivity to your particular audience segment and/or site requirements

• User experience designer – proven track record, relevant client/project list, recommendations from a range of professionals – business leaders, engineers, visual designers. Must have some experience with some form of user research. Affiliation with multiple design-related organizations.

Tips and resources

A design brief helps get the visual work off to a good start

A design brief documents the requirements for the visual design.

Design brief content:• business need and metrics for success• user groups and known characteristics• content/features (requirements)• budget/timeframe• competitors and relative positioning• links to sites liked/disliked• existing design elements

Things to read

Don’t Make Me Think - Krug

Designing Social Interfaces - Crumlish & Malone

Words that Work - Redish

Method Cards - IDEO

Change by Design - Brown

Bringing Design to Software - Winnograd

Understanding Healthcare - Wurman

Rosenfeld Media books - rosenfeldmedia.com

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Blog: http://www.healthcareinnovationbydesign.com/

Thank you!

tania@nimblepartners.com

@taniaschlatter