I led the look and feel for a patient social network and real time research platform designed to advance medicine. The PatientsLikeMe platform strives to help patients achieve better outcomes by promoting informed decision making via the data members volunteer on the site. Members gain insight from other patients treatment experience through forums, personal updates and the many ways activities can be shared on the site. Treatment options and outcomes can be improved by getting the data that makes a difference – health outcomes can’t change without it.

Creating a visual language that speaks to patients and makes room for data

The visual system relies most heavily on the attributes of a calm and credible experience.

Calming

The main UI elements emphasize soothing blues, which are neither so saturated as to be overbearing, nor so gray as to be gloomy. A more saturated green–which is used for the most important action button on a page, as well as affirmative visual feedback–adds life without being too jarring a contrast. The UI avoids highly saturated colors or stark contrasts because this would undermine the overall calming effect. To meet accessibility goals, it’s important that contrast be adjustable for users who need more. The soft background texture, dimensionality and rounded edges of non-data specific elements add to the calming effect. A clear visual hierarchy reduces anxiety, also, by helping users see where to look first, second, and third.

Credible

We want to imply there’s good science here, which is why content areas use a crisp white background. Tables and graphs use sharp right angles and thin, crisp lines to imply precision. Truth in data display is paramount, so visualizations need to avoid misleading with skewed proportions, rounded edges, or implying there’s data where there isn’t.