HCP Engagement Can Be Challenging

Why are healthcare professionals (HCPs) so challenging to reach? For one thing, HCPs have limited time—a typical day of patient care and administrative tasks may allow only several 10- to 13-minute windows of opportunity to review clinical information. There is also the problem of information overload. So much clinical information is now available (in 2020 alone, PubMed added >1.6 million new records) that 84% of physicians surveyed by PubMed found it hard to prioritize reading it—even though they felt it might add value to their practice.

Create HCP Impact With Visual Communications

Use visual communications to grab and hold the attention of HCPs for the greatest impact. As a powerful tool, visual communication can mean the difference between HCPs seeing or scanning past your content. Remember, a first impression is typically the only impression—and for most HCPs, a good first impression takes only a fraction of a second.

Tips on Effective and Engaging Visual Communications

Use the following tips to help you create the most effective—and highly engaging—visual communications:

  • Avoid clutter. Adopt a “less is more” mindset by avoiding unneeded and distracting design elements. Choose harmonious design elements to bring out your message without overwhelming it, and always balance text and graphics with white space

    • In his classic book The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Edward Tufte provides still-relevant insight into the value of avoiding clutter (or “chartjunk,” as he calls it)

  • Focus attention. To draw your audience in, apply the Gestalt principles of visual perception:

    • Proximity:

      We associate objects close together as belonging to a group

    • Similarity:

      We group objects together when they’re similar in color, shape, and size

    • Closure:

      We mentally fill in (close) any gaps or breaks in a shape

    • Enclosure:

      We assume objects enclosed together (eg, in a box) belong to the same group

    • Continuity:

      Similar to closure, our eyes always seek the smoothest path and create continuity where it may not exist

    • Connection:

      We associate physically connected objects as belonging to a group

    • Guide with hierarchies.

      Arrange content by level of importance, and differentiate the content graphically. These visual cues create an interrelationship that guides your audience through the message

    • Control with color.

      Used sparingly, color can be a powerful tool to draw your audience in. But resist the urge to use color for the sake of being colorful. Instead, leverage color selectively to highlight the key points of your message. Colors evoke emotion, so consider the tone you want to set and choose colors that help reinforce that tone. Be sure to use colors consistently

    • Scale for significance.

      Size matters, and relative size denotes relative importance. When showing multiple elements of equal importance, size them similarly. However, if a single element is particularly important, leverage size to indicate that—make it BIG!

    • Evoke emotion with photos.

      Leverage photos to create strong emotional reactions that can persuade and motivate your audience. Context and personal characteristics help determine behavioral outcomes, so testing photos for possible use in visual communications is valuable

    • Inform with infographics.

      Use infographics to simplify complex information. To appreciate the power of infographics, remember that people follow directions >300% better with illustrations than with text alone. Social media posts featuring infographics are 3 times more likely to be shared or liked

    • Apply attention analysis simulation. For digital visual communications, this simulation analyzes how users perceive, process, and respond to the content. Each report highlights an aspect of user brain activity and demonstrates how cognitive principles can be applied to ensure your materials are engaging and communicating effectively

      • Heatmap reports

        display the most engaging elements (areas likely to receive attention within the first few seconds) as “hot spots” and the least engaging elements as “cold spots”

      • Gaze plot reports

        visualize scan paths to display the movement sequence, order, and duration of gaze fixation. This report helps you adjust the design for the most efficient scan path, focusing on the information you want to be seen

      • Opacity map reports

        identify areas with unattractive information and display what your viewers may perceive during their first few seconds of visual inspection. This report type helps determine what elements need adjustment for more visibility, as well as what can be removed or toned down

      • Areas of interest reports

        predict the likelihood that someone will look at a certain area of the communication and explains why the area is likely to receive attention. This report type also provides metrics (eg, visibility score, time to first fixation, and fixation count) to optimize the visual display based on your objectives

    Ready to apply visual learning principles to your communications? Our experts can identify ways to strengthen your outreach using our proprietary AI-enabled attention analysis platform.