Pictograms and Participatory Design

Hyeoneui, Kim, Carlos Nakamura, and Qing Zeng-Treitler. “Assessment of Pictographs
Developed Through a Participatory Design Process Using an Online Survey Tool. “Journal of Medical Internet Research 11, no. 1 (2009). http://www.jmir.org/2009/1/e5/(accessed March 21, 2011).

This journal article outlines a study done comparing the efficacy of pictograms developed using participatory design to pictograms developed without end user input. Participants assessed both types of pictograms using an online assessment tool, where they picked a phrase they felt most accurately represented the meaning of the pictogram. Participants were randomly selected from a group of the researchers' colleagues and acquaintances. The researchers analyzed the responses and determined that the pictograms developed using participatory design were more effective than those developed without end user input.

One drawback of this study is that the researchers used a convenience sample of acquaintances and colleagues. As the researchers work in the healthcare system (one of them works at a department within Harvard Medical School), their colleagues and acquaintances are likely to be better educated and more technically savvy than the average American. While the researchers discussed the problem of low health literacy levels in America, the sampling strategy they chose couldn't have been very representative.

Another drawback I noticed was that the pictograms created using participatory design (PD) weren't expressing the same concepts as the other pictograms being analyzed. The PD pictograms expressed home care or medication compliance concepts, like "come to the emergency room if you can't eat food", "take this drug on an empty stomach", or "don't take tub showers". The other pictograms were really designed to help patients with wayfinding within hospitals, helping them find departments like like "Social Service", "Outpatient Care, and "Diabetes Education". The researchers did recognize this limitation, but stated that they were really trying to analyze pictograph recognition rather then a direct comparison. Still, I think this study would have been more useful if they employed a direct comparison method.