Avenue-e Health Strategies Making Pharma Websites More Effective by Addressing User Experience William Martino Manager, User Experience Group, Avenue-e Health Strategies, an S&H Company In today’s healthcare environment, it is becoming more important that the pharmaceutical industry communicates to patients and healthcare professionals in a clear and informative manner. This approach needs to apply to the Web as well, since more than 95 million Americans search health topics online. Good, user-centered Web design takes time and money, but that cost is small compared with the time, money, and Website visitors that are lost each year because of bad design. Countless companies fall into the trap of making assumptions or thinking that once a site is launched their mission is accomplished, but the reality is that the project is never really finished. Refining the user experience and increasing the perceived value of any Website is an ongoing process of research, analysis, and design that should be constantly monitored and measured. As the Web changes and evolves, staying on top of users’ expectations and needs will be critical to a company’s future success and will differentiate its sites from the thousands of other sites that don’t. The Importance of High Perceived Value Each site has two types of value: real and perceived. The real value of a site is in the quality and relevance of the content. Users come to the site with a purpose, and chances are it’s to learn or find information about a particular topic (a drug, a disease state, and so on). The problem with real value is that most users never get that far; they don’t invest the time or energy to browse through or read anything because so many sites have a low perceived value. When a visitor arrives at a site where it is too difficult to find information, or they can’t see information because they don’t have software installed, they will leave. Sites with a high perceived value are easy to find, easy to understand, and easy to use; they maximize their value because they require less time and effort for the user. The Three Components of the User Experience The total user experience is made up of three key parts, which are design and layout, usability and navigation, and copy writing. Without giving equal attention to all three, marketers sacrifice the overall value (both perceived and real) of their site. A site’s design and layout is the most noticeable component; it’s the first thing a user will react to. Because design and taste are so subjective, it’s very difficult (if not impossible) to appeal to everyone, but that shouldn’t be the goal. The goal should be to most effectively communicate the key messages as clearly as possible. The Web is a unique medium and deserves the same care and attention to detail that goes into all other communication channels. A common mistake companies make when attempting to optimize their site design is to repurpose materials for one audience, such as healthcare professionals, and use them for another audience, for example patients. Everything from photography to copy and layout should be designed to suit the intended audience. This is not to suggest that the overall brand promise, or even certain design elements, can’t be consistent across different segments, but the subtle differences between the groups need to be taken into consideration to most effectively communicate to them. It’s also extremely important to have design synergies across different media. If consumers see a print ad or healthcare professionals are presented with the most recent data by a sales rep, they should see these concepts carried through online. How the design concepts will translate when viewed in a browser should be considered from day one; the Web should not be an afterthought. A site’s navigational structure also plays a key role in how users perceive the site, since it is the fundamental way in which they interact with it. Users, especially savvy ones, expect order, consistency, and predictability. The main navigational area should be located where users expect to find it (there is a reason why so many sites have left- or top-navigation) and that placement should remain consistent throughout the entire site. Ideally, the site should also be organized and labeled in a way that matches how users think, not in a way that makes sense to you. The more user-friendly the site is, the more comfortable visitors will be and the more time they will be willing to invest to explore it. Knowing Where to Start Marketers may think they understand their typical users, but the only true way to understand who the key audience groups are, what they are looking for, and how to best address their needs is through research. One-on-one user interviews and on-site intercept surveys are an inexpensive but powerful way to identify unmet needs and establish success metrics. The optimal solution, if time and money allow, is to measure the site’s total effectiveness in a usability lab and to identify the short- and long-term ways to address unmet needs. Besides establishing a baseline for the site as it is refined, research can save time and money because it removes the guesswork from tactics. Companies need to take a step back and look at how they are designing and creating their presence online to optimize the users’ experience. This presence, which has become a 24-hour-a-day support channel, must clearly address the doubts, concerns, questions, and needs of visitors. E-Marketing July 2005 VIEW on E-Solutions Avenue-e Health Strategies, New York, is an Sudler & Hennessey company that develops innovative e-marketing programs that accelerate the rate at which a pharmaceutical company builds its brands and creates long-lasting and profitable relationships with both patients and professionals. For more information, visit avee-health.com.

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