Table 4.

Primary care physician preferences for the design of printed educational materials

Design element	Details
Length	- One to two pages, maximum
	- Short paragraphs or bullet points and point form sentences*
Layout	- Numbered clusters preferred over paragraphs
	- Two columns preferred versus one column, when appropriate
	- Single sided pages preferred by some physicians to make it easier to post materials on the wall or on bulletin boards
	- Bolded and detailed headings that explain the content of the following section facilitate finding the right information and help physicians decide if they are interested in that section*
Simple design	- Simple designs attract the user to the PEM*
	- Limited sections, graphs, and images*
	- Use of white space*
	- Limited color schemes that are neither too bright and overwhelming nor too light and pale*
	- Clear division between sections with the use of headings*
Visibility and accessibility of topic	- Topic and title should be bolded and clear*
	- Bolded topic and title help the reader decide if the content is relevant and of interest*
Key messages and highlighting of key points	- Main messages outlined at the top of the PEM*
	- Clearly outlined goals*
	- Key information highlighted to stand out from the rest of the text*
	- Over-highlighting can reduce the effect of emphasizing main points
Text density and busyness	- Overly busy materials may be discouraging to the reader*
	- Busyness can be reduced with use of white space, good organization of content, spacing between lines and paragraphs, bullet points, flow-charts, numbering, and a structured layout*
	- Too much text can reduce information recall*
	- Text-heavy PEMs reduce information retrieval and make it more difficult to scan for information*
	- Too much information on a PEM makes it hard to use in practice*
	- Electronic materials are more difficult to read on small screens if text-heavy
Use of bullets and point form	- Bullets and point form are preferred over paragraphs and full sentences as they facilitate quick reading*
	- FAQs (including the answers) work best in point form
Color	- Color is preferred and can be used to organize text*
	- Color can draw the eye and attract the reader to the PEM*
	- Color PEMs should print and photocopy well in black and white
	- Color can influence credibility and too much color can reduce the perception of credibility*
	- Too much color or colors that are too bright can compete with text and be distracting*
	- Color coding can be used to match text to tables or charts*
Font size	- Small print discourages reading (ideal size can be determined through cyclical usability testing)*
	- Larger print should be prioritized over ample white space*
Logos and developing organization’s name	- Logos should be used to show who has developed the materials
	- Use of logos can increase the perception of credibility
	- Logos are best placed at the top of materials, should be used sparsely, and need to be recognizable
	- Unrecognizable logos should be paired with the name of the organization
Templates and common formats	- Use of recurring formats across materials by the same organization facilitates navigation of the PEM*
Use of graphics, images, or other visuals	- Graphics should be labeled, be referenced in text, and use legends when appropriate*
	- Small images can be used to draw attention to an important area such as conclusions or clinical implications*
Tables	- Should not contain difficult to interpret numerical results such as risk ratios and odds ratios*
	- Use large font to make tables easy to read*
	- Use white space to make tables attractive and less intimidating*
Specificity	- Content should be specific enough to use in practice and not require looking up further information*
	- Conclusions and key messages need to be very specific*
	- Vague comments should be avoided*

*Preferences that were confirmed or added as a result of this study