What is the clinical study?
This clinical study asks participants with Type 2 diabetes to use an app to self -manage their disease. If the study is successful, patients with diabetes will be able to manage the disease better and more cheaply than they currently do now.
Stakeholder goal
“How can we ensure comprehension of this study at a large scale?”
This study has been ongoing since mid-2016, but the team was having a difficult time recruiting people for the study. The team wanted to develop a site to support recruitment.
Key Questions
Is there enough information on the prototype website to:
- to understand the study; and
- take action and join the study?
Participants
- 9 participants
- Over the age of 35
- 3 were familiar with diabetes
Method
- 1:1 in person user interviews with external participants
- 60 min each
- Task: sign up for a study
- Elicited feedback on trust & terminology
Key findings
1. Low comprehension of info that was buried at the bottom
2. Participants expected to hit “apply now” for information that was on the page
“I imagine once you apply, you’d learn more about it. It doesn’t tell you what you’ll be doing in the study.”
3. Only 2 potentially confusing terms were actually confusing
4. Website felt spammy and untrustworthy
“Apply now, apply now, apply now! So you’re selling me something. I wouldn’t click apply now, I’d click on links to tell me about the study.”
Recommendations
Impact
Almost all design recommendations were implemented and the site is live
Tripled the number of participants who apply
From 55 participants (after 3 months of recruiting) to 145 participants after 3 days of site launch.
Recruitment for these types of studies are often so difficult that agencies who specialize in clinical recruitment charge $1,000 per participant.