Making Sense - blog

Some thoughts about the importance of good quality patient information

2011-08-21T09:26:00.012+01:00

I was talking to someone this week about their experiences as a physio patient at their local NHS hospital and then subsequently at a private clinic.

The big thing they wanted to tell me was about the difference in the standard of the information sheets they were given, and how this affected their confidence in the service they were receiving. The NHS sheets were photocopies of photocopies, barely readable, misaligned so that some of the line endings were missing. The private clinic had printed out clear, colourful sheets specially, and offered to email the PDF.

Let's assume that everything else was equal between these two clinics - the clinical standard of the treatment and the written content of the information sheets - the poorly presented information had still left this patient with a bad impression of the service they received from the NHS - that their clinical care might have been second rate and that their individual needs had not been valued.

So why was this particular clinic giving out such poorly produced information? It wasn't that they couldn't do better - they had access to an in-house designer. It wasn't about money - they had access to a print-on-demand service that cost no more than photocopying (and emailing out a PDF costs nothing). What this came down to was front line staff not appreciating the importance of high quality information and how it affects the whole patient experience.

Branding is still often seen as a dirty word by many in the NHS, but this is what it's all about - making sure that the NHS values - above all professionalism - are reflected in everything it does. Hospitals can offer the highest quality clinical care, but unless patients feel that their individual needs are being acknowledged they are increasingly at liberty to go elsewhere.

It's sometimes seen as crass to think of patients as customers, but I think that this is exactly the right thing to do, putting their needs first - and that includes making sure that the standard of information provided is of the highest quality.

I just want to add that the NHS organisation in question (actually one of our clients) does recognise the importance of high quality patient information and employs a dedicated manager to improve and maintain standards. They have a comprehensive and accessible policy on patient information and go to great lengths to encourage their staff to implement it. I know they're on the case.

Testing the QRD Template for patient information leaflets

2011-05-11T17:01:00.001+01:00

All pharmaceutical patient information leaflets in the EU have to undergo formal user testing, underpinned by the Quality Review of Documents (QRD) template - ironically, this document has never undergone user testing itself.

Last year Mark Gibson of the Gibson Research Consultancy put the template through formal testing - he has just released his report here. [PDF]

Taiwan in paper form

2011-05-10T10:47:00.003+01:00

Beautiful paper-folded infographics from Taiwanese designer Tien Min Liao [Anna]

Corporate Diversity

2011-05-09T14:31:00.001+01:00

Another beautiful book just arrived from Amazon - Corporate Diversity - Swiss graphic design by Geigy 1940-1970. Lovely stuff. [Brian]

Folding Techniques for Designers: From Sheet to Form

2011-05-06T11:33:00.007+01:00

My lovely new book, Folding Techniques for Designers: From Sheet to Form by Paul Jackson, has just arrived fresh off the press! Very much looking forward to doing some folding... [Anna]

ISOTYPE at the V&A

2011-03-16T09:35:00.001Z

I spent a couple of days in London last week and took the opportunity to visit the V&A, which is currently hosting an exhibition about ISOTYPE.
The International System of TYpographic Picture Education was developed in the 1930s as a way of visualising information and can be seen as the forerunner of the information graphics we're used to seeing today.
One of the most interesting graphics for me was a 1950 diagram of the organisation of the NHS - it shows a surprising number of health services under the control of local borough councils, including what might be regarded as public health. Plus ça change. B

Florence Nightingale, datajournalist

2010-08-14T21:35:00.000+01:00

Nice piece in the Guardian yesterday about one of my information design heroes - Florence Nightingale - information has always been beautiful

New work on makingsense.co.uk

2010-08-12T13:56:00.005+01:00

To coincide with our move to the Workstation, we've updated our website and added new work to the portfolio pages. View the new projects at:
http://www.makingsense.co.uk/portfolio

iStockphoto.com revamped

2010-08-12T13:33:00.003+01:00

I like what they've done with the new iStock Photo website - the site feels a lot more professional, with a much nicer search and navigation layout.

2010-08-12T12:44:00.007+01:00

Today we've been putting books into boxes - getting ready for the big move...

Sentence spacing - Wikipedia

2010-08-04T09:32:00.000+01:00

Wikipedia's page of the day today is about sentence spacing, which appeals to the typographic geek in me. Loads of references to look at, but one quote caught my eye:

Hallahan 2009. "During times when many disciplines that recommend the APA's Publication Manual [6th ed., 2009] are advocating evidence-based decisions, it's noteworthy, we think, that these discussions of the rationale for using two spaces at the end of sentences (and after colons) do not appear to be based on scientific examination of the hypothesis that two spaces makes manuscripts more readable."

So perhaps the decision to use two spaces rather than one is based on subjective preference rather than an objective improvement in legibility. I admit to using two spaces occasionally in emails to help break up the text.

Making Sense are moving!

2010-08-02T13:49:00.005+01:00

After six successful years in our studio, Making Sense is making the exciting leap to new premises in the centre of Sheffield.

As from Tuesday 17th August 2010, we will be based at the Workstation - home to many of Sheffield's creative companies. We're extremely excited about the new start and look forward to being involved in all that the area offers.

View Larger Map

The Sign Painter Movie

2010-07-28T19:40:00.000+01:00

The Sign Painter movie is currently in Production as of March 2010. This documentary is about sign painters in America. Those who were and still are walking the streets and using their talent to get a message across. You see their work daily on windows, sandwich-boards, boats, cars, billboards, in businesses, playgrounds, farmers markets and even theme parks to name a handful of spots.

A New Subway Map for New York

2010-06-20T23:53:00.003+01:00

Back in 2004 I pointed to an article about the design of New York's subway map. Interesting to see that the map has just undergone a few changes and a bit of a clean up - there a nice piece in the New York Times with some great before-and after comparisons, including Vignelli's Beck-like diagrammatic interpretation.

Hand-drawn maps

2010-05-05T13:47:00.000+01:00

Maps have always held a great fascination for me. I love the idea that from from a few marks on a piece of paper we can gain so much knowledge about a place.

The really interesting part is when we start to mess around with the objective representation of a scene in order to hightlight the information we're trying to impart.

There are some great hand drawn maps here showing how people have whittled away unnecessary information, stretched and squeezed scales, added error checking information, all in order to produce maps tailored to specific tasks.

Health Information Design - David Sless

2010-02-23T08:48:00.011Z

Coventry University run a number of guest lectures as part of the of their MA Health Communication Design course.

Here we see David Sless speaking about his work with the Communication Research Institute, and about how his research impacts on the development of effective health communications.

I can certainly see the value of David's design process - scoping - benchmarking - prototyping - testing - refining - implementing - monitoring - I just need to persuade a client to pay for it.

A new visual language for the BBC

2010-02-21T10:08:00.003Z

In the 12 years or so that the BBC has had a web presence, their online identity has seen quite a few changes. There's a fascinating article on the BBC blog about the ongoing development of its next iteration.

Particularly appealing to me is the braver use of typography - big, bold and clear - taking the most accessible parts of print design and taking them online. Clean, clear, modern, accessible, beautiful. Love it. I feel quite inspired.

NHS design for real improvements

2010-02-17T10:39:00.001Z

There's a nice piece on the Guardian website today about design in the NHS.

A new breed of designers have realised they can do more than the glossy consumer-brand work that might have otherwise filled their portfolios. They are bolstering their optimism, creativity and visualisation skills with a whole host of human-centred techniques unique to public sector design.

And a reminder that design needs to be able to demonstrate real-world improvements in outcomes.

For designers to succeed in the NHS, they need to be numbers-savvy or to work with others who are. They also need to balance the benefits of patient experience against the goals of better clinical care at a reduced cost to the taxpayer.

Our overriding ethos here at Making Sense is definitely in line with this - producing effective, cost-effective work that really makes a difference. All of our pharma work and much of our NHS material goes through user-testing before being released so we can be confident that people can actually read our documents and find and understand the information they want.

Margaret Calvert on Top Gear

2010-01-06T11:53:00.002Z

Two of the greatest heroes of modern day information design must surely be Jock Kinnear and Margaret Calvert, who designed the system of road signs we see everyday.

Margaret featured in Top Gear this week (catch it on BBC iPlayer while it lasts - 44 minutes in).

There's a better radio interview from the Today programme at 8.48 here

Using design to get readers reading

2009-12-14T08:55:00.003Z

Of all the design books on my shelf, the most well-thumbed is Karen Schriver's Dynamics in Document Design, which covers a huge range of issues relating to producing readable documents.

Karen is interviewed in this podcast on Health Literacy Out Loud. Well worth a listen.

We've signed up to 10:10

2009-11-06T16:04:00.015Z

Making Sense has signed up to 10:10 which means we've pledged to cut our emissions by 3%... starting by turning off that light, putting less water in the kettle and using Sheffield's lovely public transport whenever possible.

We're trying to spread the word so please have a look at www.1010uk.org. It's worth it if only for the very nice website.

Readability testing of information

2009-10-28T18:22:00.005Z

Performance-based readability testing of participant information for a Phase 3 IVF trial

Peter Knapp¹ , DK Raynor¹ , Jonathan Silcock¹ and Brian Parkinson²
1 School of Healthcare, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
2 Making Sense Design, Sheffield, UK

Research project looking at how the performance of an information sheet can be improved by rewriting and redesigning.

Conclusion

User Testing can allow information to be evaluated in a structured way. When it is combined with expertise in writing for patients and information design, it may result in a greater proportion of patients being able to understand what will happen within a trial.

Not only would this impact on the extent to which valid consent is given, but it may also impact on the smooth running of the trial, with participants knowing where and when to take medicines, return for tests, etc. Increasingly potential participants have been involved in the development of trial materials, often resulting in the materials being altered substantively. The great strength of performance-based testing is that it allows confirmation (or otherwise) that such changes will be of benefit to participants.

Particularly pleasing (and a great relief) to see my redesign performing so much better than the original.

Man in Pink

2009-09-26T19:01:00.000+01:00

Proof that I'm a warm human being. Caught on a heat imaging camera at the National Media Museum in Bradford.

Information graphics in Paris

2009-08-28T18:52:00.000+01:00

I came across this little diagram on the roof of the Tour
Montparnasse in Paris and loved its simplicity - hand drawn with
typewritten captions. Never been near a Mac and all the nicer for it.

Hard at work

2009-07-22T17:30:00.003+01:00

A computer so slim that it can hide behind a bunch of flowers - pretty impressive.
Even more impressive is that there are flowers there at all.