Observational studyJournal of medical Internet research2016
Designing Health Websites Based on Users' Web-Based Information-Seeking Behaviors: A Mixed-Method Observational Study.
Observational study in Journal of medical Internet research, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 75 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluating the Effectiveness of Internet-Based Communication for Public Health: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of Information Architecture on the Effectiveness and User Experience of Web-Based Patient Education in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Online Randomized Experiment.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Trial
- Patients' Use of the Internet to Find Reliable Medical Information About Minor Ailments: Vignette-Based Experimental Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Trial
- Association Between Health Literacy and Subjective Health Perception: Analysis of a National Survey in Korea.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Educating older adults to use technologies for health management in social settings: perspectives of older adults and community workers.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Potential Application Value and Needs of Using Generative AI Videos for Health Management for Older Adults: Qualitative Study.JMIR aging · 2026Article
- Validation of the Simplified Chinese Clear Communication Index Using Diabetes Education Materials: Instrument Adaptation and Validation Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- How Older Adults Use Digital Technologies for Healthcare? A Systematic Scoping Review.Journal of medical systems · 2026Article
- The good, the bad, and the ugly: A qualitative evaluation of web-based COVID-19 vaccine communication in Canada.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Article
- Revealing Patient Dissatisfaction With Health Care Resource Allocation in Multiple Dimensions Using Large Language Models and the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision: Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Improving readability in AI-generated medical information on fragility fractures: the role of prompt wording on ChatGPT's responses.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2025Article
- Preferences and expectations of end-users from a mental health educational portal: A qualitative study.Health promotion perspectives · 2024Article
- Participatory Design and Evaluation of the "Stem Cells Australia" Website for Delivering Complex Health Knowledge: Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Exploring E-Health Literacy and Technology-Use Anxiety among Older Adults in Korea.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Online Health Information Seeking for Self and Child: An Experimental Study of Parental Symptom Search.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2022Article
- Methods for Human-Centered eHealth Development: Narrative Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Article
- Assessing the Quality of Online Health Information About Breast Cancer from Chinese Language Websites: Quality Assessment Survey.JMIR cancer · 2021Article
- Evaluation of a Digital Health Initiative in Illicit Substance Use: Cross-sectional Survey Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Article
- Benefits of Structured Engagement with Target Audiences of a Health Website: Study Design for a Multi-Case Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Engagement of Government Social Media on Facebook during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Macao.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLaypeople increasingly use the Internet as a source of health information, but finding and discovering the right information remains problematic. These issues are partially due to the mismatch between the design of consumer health websites and the needs of health information seekers, particularly the lack of support for "exploring" health information.
objectiveThe aim of this research was to create a design for consumer health websites by supporting different health information-seeking behaviors. We created a website called Better Health Explorer with the new design. Through the evaluation of this new design, we derive design implications for future implementations.
methodsBetter Health Explorer was designed using a user-centered approach. The design was implemented and assessed through a laboratory-based observational study. Participants tried to use Better Health Explorer and another live health website. Both websites contained the same content. A mixed-method approach was adopted to analyze multiple types of data collected in the experiment, including screen recordings, activity logs, Web browsing histories, and audiotaped interviews.
resultsOverall, 31 participants took part in the observational study. Our new design showed a positive result for improving the experience of health information seeking, by providing a wide range of information and an engaging environment. The results showed better knowledge acquisition, a higher number of page reads, and more query reformulations in both focused and exploratory search tasks. In addition, participants spent more time to discover health information with our design in exploratory search tasks, indicating higher engagement with the website. Finally, we identify 4 design considerations for designing consumer health websites and health information-seeking apps: (1) providing a dynamic information scope; (2) supporting serendipity; (3) considering trust implications; and (4) enhancing interactivity.
conclusionsBetter Health Explorer provides strong support for the heterogeneous and shifting behaviors of health information seekers and eases the health information-seeking process. Our findings show the importance of understanding different health information-seeking behaviors and highlight the implications for designers of consumer health websites and health information-seeking apps.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.