This article fits with many best practices that the UX community has found increase testing, surveys and forms. I am a long time UX professional that recently joined a healthcare industry startup. So I was excited to see some of the UX best practices in your article as well. I think we could both learn a lot from each other to make better patient experiences.
There is a lot in in the example the author shows besides just visual design that the author doesn't point out. And even more tips that can be reused. Conversational. YES!! But also the first example is repetitive. There is a very important precept in UX that if there is repeated data it's not useful data. As a UX designer the key question is "Is this experience important and meaningful". That goes for overall experience, but not for EVERY element. If everything is important nothing is important. Every one of the questions shown repeats the first part of the question, " Over the last 2 weeks , how often have you .....". The writer of the first example makes the most boring repetitive part the most important by putting it first and the same size as everything else. Highlight the differences and make them important. Deemphasize or hide, if possible, boring data. Using the rule of human conversation is a great. Summarize the framework for your audience. Imagine if you were talking to your parents. "Tell me how have been lately, say in the last couple of weeks...".
Nudges are great. (See the book Nudge). People skim their email. It's okay to remind them again.
What's in it for me. Make it worth their while and tell them why we are doing this and frame the task in terms of their goals. And then follow through. A marketing head once said, don't make them run the maze without giving them the cheese. What is their cheese? (Silly question but easy to remember ). Find out what your patients are trying to achieve. This ideally should be the first question. Don't assume you know the answer. Another opportunity to make their care, their own.
Jobs-to-done. YES! A great conceptual model and research methodology. The model is great for creating new solutions and products to users unknown problems. Ironically the endorsed research methodology suffers from the exact problem this article discusses. An exhausting survey that often ends in survey fatigue and drop off. But I encourage everyone to look into JTBD.
Thank you for this comment Michael, super valuable and I'm 200% convinced that I can learn a ton from your experience. Would love to connect and write a follow-up article on this but more focused on UX best practices .. :-).
Some comments:
- Regarding the "repetitive": problem is that this is a validated PROM questionnaire, so it's hard to change any wording (otherwise it's not validated anymore)
- Nudge book is on my to-read list, I keep postponing it (should I give it a try?)
- I love this quote, will write it down:)
- JBTD: agree, did you read the book "competing against luck"?
good chapter in the PROM playbook. would agree that "screen sharing" leads to higher health literacy and better shared decision making. my patients find it especially helpful when I review images with them or do bedside ultrasound and show what I am seeing. this is a luxury though, and stacked schedules and short visit times makes doing this for every patient prohibitive.
Great to hear you actually do it! In Portugal prof. Filipe Costa (Director of Value Based Healthcare at Luz Saúde, which are +- 16 hospitals in Portugal)changed added an extra screen in ALL consultation rooms where patients could see what the doctor was doing on his computer. At first the doctors didn't liked it at all, now they love it and use it as you said 'for shared decision making + higher literacy). We need more physicians like you Paulius!
Great article. That bernie sanders meme is perfect-- I am actually really curious about we could more irreverently encourage engagement for patients around PROMS. I personally love the weather app "Carrot" and how you can calibrate it's level of snark. I check the weather way more as a result. I think a lot could be done around more engaging, less generic and cheesy messaging for patients.
Thank you for your comment, Carlene! Appreciate it :-). Carrot looks good indeed, agree that a lot can be done with the right messaging (not just boring reminders, but more engaging/cheesy/funny) :-). Would love to connect if you have the time
This article fits with many best practices that the UX community has found increase testing, surveys and forms. I am a long time UX professional that recently joined a healthcare industry startup. So I was excited to see some of the UX best practices in your article as well. I think we could both learn a lot from each other to make better patient experiences.
There is a lot in in the example the author shows besides just visual design that the author doesn't point out. And even more tips that can be reused. Conversational. YES!! But also the first example is repetitive. There is a very important precept in UX that if there is repeated data it's not useful data. As a UX designer the key question is "Is this experience important and meaningful". That goes for overall experience, but not for EVERY element. If everything is important nothing is important. Every one of the questions shown repeats the first part of the question, " Over the last 2 weeks , how often have you .....". The writer of the first example makes the most boring repetitive part the most important by putting it first and the same size as everything else. Highlight the differences and make them important. Deemphasize or hide, if possible, boring data. Using the rule of human conversation is a great. Summarize the framework for your audience. Imagine if you were talking to your parents. "Tell me how have been lately, say in the last couple of weeks...".
Nudges are great. (See the book Nudge). People skim their email. It's okay to remind them again.
What's in it for me. Make it worth their while and tell them why we are doing this and frame the task in terms of their goals. And then follow through. A marketing head once said, don't make them run the maze without giving them the cheese. What is their cheese? (Silly question but easy to remember ). Find out what your patients are trying to achieve. This ideally should be the first question. Don't assume you know the answer. Another opportunity to make their care, their own.
Jobs-to-done. YES! A great conceptual model and research methodology. The model is great for creating new solutions and products to users unknown problems. Ironically the endorsed research methodology suffers from the exact problem this article discusses. An exhausting survey that often ends in survey fatigue and drop off. But I encourage everyone to look into JTBD.
Great article. I hope readers take this to heart.
Thank you for this comment Michael, super valuable and I'm 200% convinced that I can learn a ton from your experience. Would love to connect and write a follow-up article on this but more focused on UX best practices .. :-).
Some comments:
- Regarding the "repetitive": problem is that this is a validated PROM questionnaire, so it's hard to change any wording (otherwise it's not validated anymore)
- Nudge book is on my to-read list, I keep postponing it (should I give it a try?)
- I love this quote, will write it down:)
- JBTD: agree, did you read the book "competing against luck"?
The cheese quote is from the book "Who Moved My Cheese" btw ;-)
good chapter in the PROM playbook. would agree that "screen sharing" leads to higher health literacy and better shared decision making. my patients find it especially helpful when I review images with them or do bedside ultrasound and show what I am seeing. this is a luxury though, and stacked schedules and short visit times makes doing this for every patient prohibitive.
Great to hear you actually do it! In Portugal prof. Filipe Costa (Director of Value Based Healthcare at Luz Saúde, which are +- 16 hospitals in Portugal)changed added an extra screen in ALL consultation rooms where patients could see what the doctor was doing on his computer. At first the doctors didn't liked it at all, now they love it and use it as you said 'for shared decision making + higher literacy). We need more physicians like you Paulius!
Great article. That bernie sanders meme is perfect-- I am actually really curious about we could more irreverently encourage engagement for patients around PROMS. I personally love the weather app "Carrot" and how you can calibrate it's level of snark. I check the weather way more as a result. I think a lot could be done around more engaging, less generic and cheesy messaging for patients.
Thank you for your comment, Carlene! Appreciate it :-). Carrot looks good indeed, agree that a lot can be done with the right messaging (not just boring reminders, but more engaging/cheesy/funny) :-). Would love to connect if you have the time