Well-designed visual displays have the power to convey health messages in clear, effective ways to non-experts, including journalists, patients and policymakers. Poorly designed visual displays, however, can confuse and alienate recipients, undermining health messages. In this Perspective, we propose a structured framework for effective visual communication of health information, using case examples of three common communication tasks: comparing treatment options, interpreting test results, and evaluating risk scenarios. We also show simple, practical ways to evaluate a design’s success and guide improvements. The proposed framework is grounded in research on health risk communication, visualization and decision science, as well as our experience in communicating health data.

精心设计的视觉展示能够以清晰、有效的方式向非专家（包括记者、患者和政策制定者）​​传达健康信息。然而，设计不当的视觉展示会使接收者感到困惑和疏远，从而破坏健康信息。在这个观点中，我们提出了一个有效的健康信息视觉交流的结构化框架，使用三个常见交流任务的案例：比较治疗方案、解释测试结果和评估风险情景。我们还展示了评估设计成功和指导改进的简单实用方法。拟议的框架基于对健康风险交流、可视化和决策科学的研究，以及我们在交流健康数据方面的经验。