How do I pronounce my medicine?
As an Interaction designer for the Medicines Information team on the NHS website (nhs.uk), I was tasked with addressing a user need to support the pronunciation of difficult medicine names.
SITUATION
Through research, we found that users being unable to pronounce certain medicines had potentially serious effect on their health– from being unable to tell health professionals the exact name in medical emergencies, to users who need to self-manage their health and speak confidently with healthcare professionals.
TASK
Firstly, we had to identify a medicine which users found hard to pronounce to test our design hypotheses against.
To address this need, the team also needed to identify a suitable phonetic respelling standard. I needed to develop a design component that adhered to the NHS.UK design standards, met users needs and was accessible–for example, usable by access technology such as screen readers.
I also needed to support the User Researchers to gather feedback from users and monitor the effectiveness of the resource, through creating design hypotheses and prototyping.
ACTION
Flucloxacillin, a widely used antibiotic thats used to treat: skin and wound infections.
I led the team with desktop research to find a suitable phonetic respelling standard, the outcome being the BBC text spelling guide.
I worked with the social media team to create sound recordings of someone pronouncing the medicine correctly to be embedded in the page as a sound file, using both female and male voice actors (well spoken colleagues).
I created design hypotheses and developed a HTML prototypes featuring both the phonetic respelling and a sound recording of the correct pronunciation.
I supported the user researchers in testing design hypotheses and gathering feedback from users during lab testing sessions.
We were also able to test the components in the live environment using a beta domain. Using analytics, I monitored users behaviour on the page including the number of clicks on the sound recording.
From feedback during the test we uncovered a problem around users users trying to play sound with speakers/headphones turned off or no speakers at all. I implemented error messages to inform users if their speakers were not turned on or not turned up loud enough to hear the sound recording.
RESULT
The phonetic respelling system was successful in helping users pronounce the test medication correctly, as evidenced by feedback during face to face testing along with a significant increase in clicks on the sound recording on the beta site.
Feedback from users indicated that they appreciated the availability of the pronunciation guide.
The gender of the voiceover did not have a significant impact on user trust, and error messages were effectively implemented to inform users of technical issues.
The incorporation of both the phonetic respelling system and sound recordings improved the user experience of the medicines information page and helped users to self-manage their health more confidently.
Unfortunately, the priority of the feature wasn't deemed a priority so has yet to be made live on the NHS website. Its still on the backlog to be picked up the future, and I've also shared findings with wider Health colleagues, including the Electronic Prescription Service - who were interested in the findings.
CONTACT
Email me, follow me on twitter or lets do business on LinkedIn.