26

CURRENT ¢ HEALTH + WELL BEING

means, equivalent to a 20% black screen. Red
has been found to be twice as visible as black in regards to
warnings.” [1]

This led to decisions about color type and ground for the design of
the document, moving away from the original design, where red
titles were set on green backgrounds. Fifty sources were consulted
and referenced, and 19 interviews with producers and users were
held to develop the 34 recommendations that led to the new design.
Testing the existing design and the new one with users, the follow-
ing improvements in performance were found:

“The average time required to complete all search tasks was
shorter when using the new design (77 seconds) than when
using the existing one (139 seconds).

When attempting to recall the number of sections in the
document, no subject was able to do this with the existing
design, and all subjects were able with the new prototype.

When attempting to remember the titles of the sections, no
subject was able to do so completely, but a higher accuracy was
possible with the new design.

Subjects in general found the new design easier to read, and
performed faster at search tasks. They also supported the color
coding, the color palette, and the colors used for type.

Ona scale of 1 to 5, 1 being not easy to use and 5 being easy to
use, the existing sheet was assigned an average of 3.3, and the
new one 4.75.” [2]

A BLOOD REQUEST HOSPITAL FORM

Are-design of a hospital form I did with Guillermina Noél can be
used as an example to discuss other step in evidence-based design:
the articulation of a clear description of the problems found. In our
case we found the following:

«

‘1. Lack of information about existing records for the patient.

2. Lack of clarity and completeness of information and requests.

3. Ambiguity in some texts.

4. Inadequate sequence of items.

5. Inadequate layout.

6. Visual and textual ‘noise.’

7. Lack of support for the perceptual and cognitive tasks of the
users.

8. Lack of possibility to confirm that the user had followed
correct procedures.

g. Lack of instructions about how to fillin the form.

10. Inadequate slots for some items to be entered.

11. Important information was buried.” [3]

This led to the decision to base our work on three basic criteria:
“correctness (of the data); consistency (in the way requests and infor-
mation are presented); and correspondence (between the needs of
the form filler and those of the service deliverer) (Janssen & Neute-

lings, 2001)” [3].

This in turn lead to the development of performance specifications,
another necessary step to be covered when designing documents
on the basis of evidence. Performance specifications define what
the document must do, as different from defining how the docu-
ment must look. A document is a tool people use to achieve a given
objective. People should be able to use it with ease, efficiency, and
accuracy.

In our case, we decided that the form should facilitate:

«

‘1. Reading all texts.

2. Finding any specific piece of information.
3. Following requests properly.

4. Filling in all the items in the form.

5. Transcribing the information.

6. Confirming that procedures and actions have been properly
followed.

... As a result of the evaluation and performance specifications, 52
modifications were introduced, focusing on reducing the users’
cognitive efforts (Desaulniers, 1987; Frolich, 1986), making
their job more efficient (Fowler, 1983) and error free. To achieve
this, eight prototypes were designed through an iterative
consultation process.” [3]

As said before, evidence in design not only emerges from special-
ized literature, but also from field research developed specifically
for the project in question, through interviews, tests and other
research strategies involving users.

CONCLUSIONS

Evidence-based design is accountable design. It is a way of ensuring
that one is making the best possible decisions by using the infor-
mation available at the point of creating the design. Evidence-based
design takes advantage of the hundreds of studies developed in
related sciences such as psychology in its many specializations
(perceptual, cognitive, behavioural, educational, etc.), the study
of language comprehension, anthropology, sociology, marketing,
physiology of vision, and any other science that could be relevant
to assist in the creation of effective solutions to design problems.
Communication design is not centred on the arrangement of type
and images (our means as designers), but on optimizing the human
processing of visually presented information.

Evidence-based design is responsible design, it does not vary
with fads and fashions or with the capricious moods of a designer.
It provides a dependable service to society and, as a consequence,
positions the design profession among other credible disciplines,
where a vast pool of knowledge is combined with sensitivity for the
particular demands of specific situations.

Evidence-based design is reliable design, that combines existing
scientific knowledge with knowledge created to address the situat-
ed nature of every design project.

REFERENCES

Frascara, J. Information design review project. Phase 2: Project 1. Design
criteria and guidelines for the visual presentation of information. Internal
report to client: Submitted to the Alberta Drug Utilization Program. 2006.

Frascara, J., and Rueckert, $. Medical communications and informa-
tion design. Information Design Journal, 15(1). 2007. 44-63. Frascara, J.,
and Noél, G. Evaluation and design of a blood transfusion request form.
Information Design Journal, 18(3). 2010. 241-249.