Identify needs of digital health users
Health literacy is one of the most multifaceted challenges facing the healthcare industry. People tend to underestimate the importance of educating themselves about their health, but for those who are compelled to learn more, nearly half will search for resources online. Too often, however, if they’re even able to find what they’re looking for, the experience is substandard.
This article provides an overview of how health brands can prepare content to not only meet patients’ health literacy needs, but also deliver an unsurpassed experience.
- Inside-out thinking: Content is created based on assumptions about what is needed and the audience is then sought to engage with it.
- Outside-in thinking: Research is conducted to determine what users need, want or are most likely to share and content is then created to meet those findings.
The inside-out approach can leave companies frustrated that their content isn’t performing as expected, whereas the outside-in approach requires more initial investment in research. But that investment needn’t be substantial in time or money. User testing can cost as little as $150 USD and take 48 hours, with automatically generated reports.
Research highlights voids in wider content offerings and health companies able to fill those gaps can help patients, while also stoking their affinity for the brand.
Identify needs of digital health users
Once user needs have been identified, every single unit of existing content must be assessed against the acquired data. To aid in this prioritization exercise, our Creative & Experience Design team uses a matrix that consists of four categories:
- Keep – Purposeful and effective content that should remain part of the digital experience.
- Combine – Similar items with high user engagement that can be streamlined together.
- Create – Content that doesn’t exist, but is worth producing.
- Kill – Content that isn’t being read and doesn’t fulfill any of the identified needs, so can be removed.
Much like pruning breathes fresh life into a garden, this exercise reinvigorates the content, ensuring it provides the utmost value for its audience.
Use digital to ease searches
With search algorithms, content can be presented to specific users. For example, two patients seeking information about two different medications could see their respective content when they arrive at a pharma brand’s homepage.
Delivering exceptional digital patient experiences requires an intricate mix of automation and analytics. It’s difficult to get right, but with technological advancements the lift isn’t as intense as it once was. Our team can design virtually any content experience within about 16 weeks and the time required depends simply on scale. The process itself remains constant, regardless of the solution.
To discover more strategies for enhancing your patient experience, download our white paper, Changing Lives: Five Strategies for Differentiated Patient Experience.