Information design for diagnostics is a COVID-19 Rapid Response project funded by AHRC.  It brings together a cross-disciplinary team including information design and current and future diagnostic testing technology and partnership with Oxford Academic Health Sciences Network to ensure awareness of the needs of health sector stakeholders and effective communication routes.

The initial approach to COVID testing in the UK was centralised and relied on self-testing either at home or at drive-through testing centres. However, at the end of 2020, there is a shift toward mass community testing, relying on lateral flow tests (LFT). This increases the capacity to test: patients collect their sample at the test centre, then put it into the tests, which are affordable, can be processed on site and produce results within the hour. User-friendly instructions in print and video are key to accurate use of the tests and the reading of the results.

Find out more about our research.