These design guidelines have been developed by synthesizing the results of the current literature on effective communication, together with input from stakeholders, patient focus groups, healthcare professional focus groups, eye-tracking tests and the clinical trial of the initial pathology report prototype. The guidelines cover the content of the information presented, the visual style of the presentation (paper orientation, the use of pictures and graphs, and the font and color of the text) and the information-processing style of the information (narrative vs. rational, value-expressive vs. utilitarian).