Category: We Heart Health Literacy

Is your team lost in the product development process? Do you want to see how someone else might envision this thing you’re making? Maybe you’re interested in getting at the je ne sais quoi of a successful product? Never fear, dear readers! Our latest installment on testing techniques is about “design the box,” a research activity that asks participants to decorate a physical box representing a (digital or tangible) product.

The goal of design the box is for participants to capture the product’s most important qualities and visually represent how they could be displayed — and how they might interact with each other. Folks can do this by writing words on the box, gluing magazine pictures to it, or any other crafty approach they please.

To prepare, you’ll need to gather supplies — including, of course, boxes (shoeboxes work great). You’ll also want to provide things like markers, scissors, tape, magazines…you get the idea. Then divide participants into teams. We find that teams of 3 to 6 people work well, but if you have fewer people, you can also have people work in pairs.

Now it’s time for participants to channel their creativity! Ask them to imagine that the box is the package for the product in question — and their job is to design it in a way that helps sell the product. For example, if you’re working on a new app for tracking physical activity, you can tell participants to think about things like:

• Who is the app designed for?
• What’s important to that audience?
• What will make them want to buy and use the app?
• What makes this app different from other, similar apps?

Give teams a set amount of time to design their box — say, 30 minutes — and ask them to prepare some talking points about why they designed the box the way they did. When time’s up, have each group present their creation. Then facilitate a sure-to-be enlightening discussion about participants’ choices and their vision for the product.

Keep in mind that participants can be either internal stakeholders or end users of the future product. Each of these groups represents a unique perspective. If you can, do 2 separate sessions with both types of participants!

The bottom line: Design the box taps into creativity, collaboration, and fresh perspectives for product development. It might just be exactly what your research process needs.

Here at We ❤︎ Health Literacy Headquarters, we always have accessibility in mind — but on this day each year we think about it with a little extra love. That’s because it’s Blue Beanie Day, a worldwide celebration of the importance of web design that makes content accessible to and usable for people with a diverse range of needs. (Hooray!)

As you may know, dear readers, we’ve shared accessibility tips before — on topics like alt text and labeling, designing for keyboard navigation, and accessibility plug-ins. This week, we’d like to draw your attention (get it?) to color contrast.

Color contrast is the difference in color between elements on a page. Things with low contrast (for example, dark blue text on a black background) can be hard to see. Using text with high contrast (like black text on a white background) makes your content easier for everyone to read — and it’s especially important for people with low vision.

So, how much contrast is enough? We recommend using Section 508 guidelines. Check out these tools to make sure your site passes high-contrast muster:

• Not sure if your color contrast is kosher? Try out this nifty Firefox plug-in.
• Working from an existing palette? Use this color palette builder to find 508-compliant color pairs.
• Got a base color? Use COLOR SAFE to find high-contrast matches.
• Starting from scratch? Check out these color-safe combinations.

The bottom line: On Blue Beanie Day (and every day!), a quick color check goes a long way toward making health information as accessible as it can be.

As longtime We ❤︎ Health Literacy readers know, all content is not created equal. Some words, phrases, or ideas are usually more important than others. So how can you draw attention to your high-priority content?

Designers have all kinds of fancy tricks up their (super-fashionable) sleeves. But today we’d like to focus on bolding, a simple visual cue that you can use to emphasize any content — no designer needed.

Bold text is easy to read, and it really stands out on a page. Done right, it can help people find and understand your key ideas and messages — especially readers who are skimming or scanning.

We use bold text for most of our emphasizing needs, including:

• Highlighting the topic of a bullet or paragraph, so readers who skim can quickly see what the section is about
• Calling attention to a particular word, especially if we’re teaching a key word they might see again
• Underscoring key takeaways — 1 or 2 sentences max!

Why do we like bold best? Because it’s head and shoulders above the alternatives:

• ALL CAPS can be hard to read — AND IT LOOKS LIKE YELLING! No thank you.
• Underlining also isn’t great for readability. And, in our digital world, users can easily mistake it for a hyperlink. Next, please.
• Italics can be hard to read for users with lower literacy levels, so we mostly avoid them in plain language materials. For savvier audiences (like you, dear readers), we use ’em sometimes — mostly to stress a single word or to indicate a book title or foreign phrase.

Remember, when you’re bolding, a little goes a long way. It can be tempting to just bold everything — but trust us, it’s not a good look. If everything is emphasized, nothing stands out. And patchy bolding is especially confusing — readers often don’t know where to look, and they can end up feeling googly eyed, woozy, and disoriented.

The bottom line: Bold text draws your readers’ eyes to key messages and ideas. Use it wisely!

It’s time for yet another installment in our “use simpler words” series. This week’s target: “transmit.”

Why? Because this verb sounds like it’s straight out of a sci-fi novel or ham radio how-to. And the related noun, “transmission,” is more hot rod than Hot Zone.

Consider these examples:

• The flu can be transmitted easily from one person to another.
• Mothers who take HIV medicine while they’re pregnant can lower the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission.

Holy jargon, Batman! All this fancy fuss, dear readers, when we could use a plain language word like “spread” or “pass.”

Try these instead:

• The flu can spread easily from one person to another.
• Mothers who take HIV medicine while they’re pregnant are less likely to pass HIV to their babies.

The bottom line: When writing about infectious diseases, skip “transmit” and use “spread” or “pass” instead! (When writing about radios, aliens, or cars, it’s up to you.)

Tweet about it: #PlainLanguage PSA from @CommunicateHlth: When writing about how diseases spread, skip “transmit” — your audiences will thank you: https://bit.ly/2ExWD1t #HealthLit #communicateCOVID

Today, we’re digging a little deeper into a topic near and dear to our ❤︎s: user testing! Diehard We ❤︎ Health Literacy fans have read our tips and musings on user testing techniques like focus groups, usability testing, and tree testing. One question we get a lot is: “Where do I actually do the testing?”

Never fear, dear readers, you have options! You can do user testing either in person or remotely. Here are pros and cons of both options.

In-person testing
You can do in-person testing any number of places, from a fancy observation lab to a public library or community center. Choose a space that’s comfortable and conducive to a friendly chat.

Pros:

• It’s easier to build rapport with people when you’re face to face.
• You can see participants’ body language and facial expressions, which can be telling — especially for sensitive topics.
• It’s easier to do certain activities, like collaging, in person.

Cons:

• Renting out a research facility can be expensive, especially if you need an observation room.
• Traveling to the testing location may be a barrier for some participants.

Remote testing
There are lots of free or inexpensive tools available to help you do user testing from anywhere. For example, you can conduct interviews over the phone or lead focus groups via video chat.

Pros:

• It’s generally less expensive than renting a facility.
• Some participants, like busy professionals, may find it logistically easier to volunteer for remote testing.
• For testing methods where you need a larger number of participants to get valid results, like card sorting, remote testing can be more convenient.
• It’s easier to get geographic diversity in your mix of participants.

Cons:

• Using technology can be a barrier for some folks, including those who are likely to struggle with health literacy.
• You’ll miss out on participants’ body language and non-verbal cues.
• There’s always the risk of a technical glitch or outage.

The bottom line: When it comes to user testing, both in-person and remote testing have pros and cons. Pick the approach that’s best for your project!

In our last social media installment, we talked about Facebook, ruler of the social media kingdom. Today we’re moving on to another key player in the social media game — Facebook’s little brother, if you will: Instagram.

Instagram is the biggest photo-sharing app. What does this mean for you, dear readers? New and exciting opportunities to share relevant and meaningful content with your audience! It’s a great way to start a conversation about health — and you know we ❤︎ that.

Let’s dive in. Here are just a few of the things you can do with Instagram:

• Model healthy behaviors. Every day, Instagram is flooded with workout tips, healthy recipes, and inspirational messages to help people live happy and healthy lives. This makes it a great place to share your health messages.
• Get real. A picture is worth a thousand words — and when it shares a story from someone directly impacted by the work you do, it’s worth even more. Instagram is the perfect place to get up close and personal so users feel connected with your brand and inspired to engage.
• Dress up your data. Grab your audience’s attention and spread awareness about the importance of your work by sharing facts in a way that’s visually appealing, like with an infographic or interactive video.
• Promote content for a wider reach. If it’s in your budget, paid promotion is a great way to make sure your target audience sees your content. Plus you can run ads on both Facebook and Instagram using Facebook’s Ad Manager platform to maximize your potential reach.

The bottom line: Use Instagram to share real, relevant, and visually engaging health information with your audience.

It’s probably not news to you that the United States has high rates of obesity, and that the public health community has identified the issue as a top priority. Obesity is something that health communicators often need to write about — and it can be a tough subject to tackle.

There’s strong evidence that overweight and obesity are correlated with a host of health conditions, including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, depression, and arthritis. But the fact is that improving health outcomes isn’t as simple as telling people to lose weight. People with obesity have likely been told to lose weight throughout their lives, and many have already experienced cycles of weight loss and regain.

So how can you write about weight in a way that’s actionable, compassionate, and effective? We’ve shared general advice for writing about sensitive topics before, but today we’re adding a few weight-specific tips:

• Watch your words. Use person-first language and avoid stigmatizing terms like “morbidly obese.” Remember, no one is their disease. Consider writing about people who have overweight or obesity rather than people who are overweight.
• Skip the value judgments. Avoid language that places moral value on food, like talking about “good” and “bad” foods or “guilt-free” substitutions.
• Acknowledge barriers that people may face, like issues with access to healthy foods and limited opportunities for safe, affordable physical activity.
• Use images your audience can relate to. Choose realistic images with people of all sizes engaging in healthy behaviors.
• Focus on specific steps people can take — like trying new vegetables or getting more physical activity — that can improve health regardless of whether they result in weight loss.

And keep in mind, dear readers, that these tips aren’t just for consumer materials. Doctors often have their own biases about weight, and that can translate to worse health outcomes for people who have overweight or obesity — even if their health concerns aren’t related to weight at all.

By writing in a positive, non-judgmental way, health communicators can model respect and help make sure biases don’t get in the way of good health care. And we really ❤︎ that.

The bottom line: When writing about weight, there’s a lot you can do to create respectful, empowering health messages.

Here at We ❤︎ Health Literacy Headquarters, we just love an outrageous outbreak flick. The feverish stars! The frantic lab tests! The unrealistic but highly entertaining science-y dialogue!

The genre may play fast and loose with the facts, but there’s one outbreak movie from 2011 that (mostly) sticks to the realm of the possible: Contagion. When a viral pandemic infects a billion people, public health professionals come to the rescue and race to find a vaccine.

If there’s one thing we learned from watching this movie, it’s that public health messages sure are memorable when delivered by Kate Winslet and Laurence Fishburne. Here are some pandemic survival messages that Contagion gets right:

• Keep clean. Simple steps like handwashing and keeping your hands away from your mouth and eyes can be the best defense. As the movie puts it, “Stop touching your face.”
• Practice social distancing. Contagion sums up the best plan for when a virus is spreading like a wildfire: “Don’t talk to anyone, don’t touch anyone, stay away from other people.”
• Beware the wonder drug. The internet is full of too-good-to-be-true miracle cures. In real life, as in the movies, it’s best to get your medicine from the experts — not from Jude Law.
• Try not to panic. Some of the scariest scenes in Contagion have nothing to do with germs. It’s when people start to riot and fight over resources that things get really hairy.

Those steps are a good start, but what about our very favorite topic? That’s right, dear readers, clear communication is also super important when attempting to survive a pandemic. Kate Winslet’s character, who works for CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, models these tips for communicating in a crisis:

• Stick to your key message. In an emergency, people need clear information and a bit of comfort. She keeps a cool head and reminds the public, “We’re isolating the sick and quarantining those we believe were exposed.”
• If you can’t translate a word into plain language, give examples. When her use of the word “fomites” gets blank stares, she rattles off a handy list of surfaces that spread disease: “Doorknobs, water fountains, elevator buttons, and each other.”
• Be honest about the risks. A colleague asks if his wife is crazy to make him bleach all his clothes and bathe in the garage before coming in the house. “Not really,” she replies.
• Work with your partners even when it’s difficult. It may be hard to cooperate with local officials who are more worried about bad press than they are about the rising death toll. But take a lesson from Kate: keep communicating. After all, public health is a team effort — especially in an emergency.

The bottom line: Watch Contagion to learn how to survive a pandemic — and how public health professionals can help save the day.