User-Centered Development of Effective Web-Based Patient Education: A Case Study about Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

This paper describes the user-centered design process of online patient education, focusing on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). A user-centered design approach comprising four different methods (semi-structured interviews; Card Sort Task; prototyping; scenario testing) was used to develop an educational website. The approach provided insight in MRSA-carriers´ experiences and information needs which helped to fully adapt the website´s content, structure, and lay-out to the users´ needs. The website enabled MRSA-carriers to efficiently and effectively search for practically relevant information in order to empower them to take decisions for daily practice. Moreover, we found that involving patients is important to create ownership and to foster website´s applicability.