Typography in patient information leaflets for mobile devices

Abstract

Typography plays a central role in providing information in medicine leaflets since these documents are predominantly constituted of text. This article reports a study conducted in Brazil, aimed at investigating the importance of typographic features in digital leaflets. It is divided into three stages: an analytical study of digital PILs, an interaction study with users reading a digital leaflet on a mobile device, and a field study with developers. Results point out deficiencies in graphic presentation of the documents, with a negative effect in reading and finding information. Considering this, guidelines are proposed to improve the design of digital PILs for mobile devices.