Carla Galvão Spinillo and Stephania Padovani

How to improve information communication in medicine inserts? Contributions from a user/patient-centred design approach to research in Brazil

Medicine insert is part of a broad information system in the health field that is made available to patients in the process of treatment in order to promote/ensure the correct and safe use of medicines. We will discuss in our talk the outcomes of analytical and experimental studies on the effectiveness of medicine inserts regarding their information design aspects.

We analysed a sample of 50 medicine inserts from drugstores in Brazil. The results showed drawbacks on information hierarchy, presentation of warnings and titles, text legibility, and on their visual instructions. The experimental study was conducted with 60 participants in a simulated manner, regarding the use of five medicines varying in their pharmaceutical formula and usage. We also considered the reading and comprehension of the inserts.

The results indicated participants’ difficulties to understand information content in the medicine inserts due to their graphic presentation and the use of medical terms. These ratify the outcomes of the analytical study, showing how deficiencies in typography and confusing visual instructions affect task performance and information comprehension. Afterwards, we proposed guidelines to improve the design of medicine inserts, which are intended to serve as a basis for adjustments in the Brazilian regulation for medicine inserts.

Carla Galvão Spinillo is a graphic designer and holds a PhD from The University of Reading - UK. She teaches and supervises students in the Postgraduate Programme - Master in Design at The Federal University of Paraná, Brazil, where she is also member of the University Council. Carla has particular research interest in graphic language and information design in visual instructions applied to health, publishing articles and book chapters on this subject. She is co-editor of InfoDesign - Brazilian Journal of Information Design, and associate editor of the books of Selected Readings of the IVLA - the International Visual Literacy Association (USA) conferences.

Stephania Padovani is a designer and holds a PhD from The University of Loughborough, UK on cognitive ergonomics. She is a lecturer and researcher in the Postgraduate Programme - Master in Design of The Federal University of Paraná, Brazil, where she is also the head of the graphic design undergraduate course. Stephania has a research grant from the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology - CNPq to conduct studies on human-computer-interaction (hci), information design, and usability of digital interfaces, publishing several papers and books on these subjects.