Use simple, short and plain words. This design guideline was implemented in the initial two prototypes that were tested using the eye tracking system. Short, direct, and clear sentences were used to express information about the disease, which proved to be helpful. Participants thoroughly understood the information about the disease and the test results.
Stakeholders also refined the initial prototypes to better reflect this design guideline. For example they recommended that the prototypes should not have too much information or be too crowded, and to explore alternative words to some terms such as “moderate risk”.
In the refined prototypes that were presented to patients in the focus groups, this design guideline was implemented. The sentence that describes the test was refined to make it clearer. Some words were replaced with simpler words that conveyed the same meaning and were easier to understand (e.g. “risk” was removed and replaced with “above normal”). This motivated further changes to the prototype – for instance, replacing the phrase “above normal” with “too high”. Following this guideline, the foods were divided into two types - foods that increase sugar level and foods that reduce sugar level.
In the GP focus group, the text was made clearer by adding more short sentences and sub headings to the prototype. This proved to be useful, as patients in the GP trial thoroughly understood the information in the report and agreed and strongly agreed on it.
In addition it is important not to use harsh or scary language.