Reader state

Accepted

Before any communication decision, ask what state the reader is in, because that decides how the content is structured.

Why it looks like this

The same person can be at ease filling in a form before a first appointment, uncertain in the waiting room before surgery and disoriented in the recovery room afterwards. At the form they need clarity and an easy task, in the waiting room predictability, and in the recovery room reassurance and the next step. The voice is the same in all three places, and the structure changes because the reader's state does.

The answer does not decide what we say, which is a content question. It decides what we lead with, what we dial down, how much we explain and which format supports the reader. The same content structured around the wrong state can become overwhelming, or sound empty or disingenuous.

Patients are usually in an emotional state: uncertainty, curiosity or balanced. There are more nuances, but these three are enough for most decisions. Professional readers read from a stance rather than a feeling, and next of kin are usually helping someone else, so the job in front of them sets their state.

What never changes

The voice stays the same in every state
What changes is the information architecture, because the reader's state has changed.
Ask about the reader at this moment
The state belongs to the person in the moment, which is why one person can need three different texts in a single day.
Reader state decides the structure
What we say is a content question; the state decides what leads, what is dialled down and how much is explained.
Material for professional readers is structured around their needs
Clinicians, coworkers and decision-makers read from a more operational position, and they read messaging meant for patients with a professional eye.
Use the question for the cases no list covers
A list answers the cases someone thought of, and guiding material exists to help you decide the ones it has not met.

How to apply it

Patients

Uncertainty: the reader is not sure what lies ahead, perhaps before an assessment, a procedure or a piece of news. They need predictability, control and human contact.

For an uncertain reader, lead with the process, step by step, and support it with a list, a timeline and a contact detail. Dial down clinical details that may increase worry.

Curiosity: the reader has chosen to be here, for a health check-up, an aesthetic consultation or a wellness initiative, and wants to feel affirmed in that choice. They need a focus on the outcome, signs of support and quality, and low friction.

Balanced: the reader is partway through a service, checking a booked time or filling in a form, and wants it to go smoothly. They need a clear purpose, feedback, managed expectations, and friction only where it earns its place.

Next of kin

Next of kin are helping someone close to them, and are often worried as well. Lead with the jobs they do for the patient, such as using a service, travelling to and from the clinic, translating and filling in forms, and with what to expect. Avoid casting them as helpless or moving the text's centre away from the patient.

Professional readers

A care practitioner needs what has changed and what it means for their work. A coworker needs the decision or action and why. A decision-maker in a private company needs the value case and the evidence; one in the public sector needs reliability, evidence and how risk is handled, and nothing that reads as a sales pitch.

These professional starting points have not yet been researched. Check them with the people who do that work before treating them as settled.

What good looks like

Do
Before an assessment: what happens on the day, in order, and who to call
Structure eases uncertainty, and the reader knows what comes next.
Don't
The same page opening with the clinical background of the examination
Clinical detail that may increase worry is what an uncertain reader needs dialled down.
Do
After the procedure: a short text in large type saying what happened and the one next step
A disoriented reader needs affirmation and one thing at a time.
Don't
After the procedure: an overview of the whole process, with choices to make
Information that asks for a decision is what a disoriented reader needs dialled down.
Do
For next of kin: how to travel to and from the clinic, and which forms to fill in
The text helps with the job they are doing for the patient.
Don't
For next of kin: a text that treats them as helpless
It casts the helper as someone to be managed and pulls the text away from the patient.

Asked about reader state

Which mode applies to a screen people return to every week, where nothing is pending?
When should a product be warm and when should it be efficient?

Creating with reader state

Source and status