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Describes the process and outcome of an effort to develop an information design for a community network's Web site. Topics include user-centered design techniques, diffusion of innovations literature, targeting innovators and early adopters, the use of focus groups, and usability tests. (Author/LRW)

The article presents information on selling user experience effectively. The author worked for a mature user experience (UX) company. To keep relevance to the business and the customers, several steps were learned by the author. The first step was to learn to think and speak like a sales representative. Positioning UX meant career aspirations and purchase motivations. Step two included learning about the perspective. The third step was to learn new conversations and user research.

Objective: Unmet health needs experienced by new mothers may potentially be reduced by the use of Internet-based information, advice, decision support, and social networking. New mothers' Web site preferences must be understood in order to develop successful Internet-delivered healthcare information. The purpose of this study is to determine the Web site preferences of new mothers in order to better design health resources distributed through the Internet., Materials and Methods: Data were derived from two open-ended questions in a larger survey of new mothers of varying incomes and racial/ethnic groups (n=145). The questions focused on mothers' favorite Web sites and their favorite aspect of the Web sites. Content analysis was used to condense data into descriptive categories., Results: Mothers most frequently chose commercial search engines, followed by social networking sites, as their favorite Web sites. Mothers' most frequently mentioned favorite attributes of the Web sites were, first, the ability to interact with other users, and then ease of navigation, access, and use. Except for a difference in favorite Web site associated with maternal age, Web sites and their most liked attributes did not differ by demographic characteristics., Conclusions: New mothers' Web site preferences offer preliminary guidance for designers of e-health resources for this population. An expanded survey with more detailed questions about preferences and devices would further refine this knowledge base.

Objective: Our first aim was to assess the contributions of health-related risks, barriers to healthcare, and user characteristics to new mothers' interest in two Web-based health programs: postpartum weight loss or parenting advice. Our second aim was to determine if the preceding proximal variables diminished associations of income level with interest in Web-based health programs., Subjects and Methods: A mail survey of a stratified random sample was conducted with a resulting analytic sample that included 121 white/Anglo, African American, or Hispanic women of higher and lower income. Weight risk (being overweight or obese) and psychosocial/behavioral risk (alcohol use, depression, smoking) were the predictors of interest in a weight loss program and parenting advice, respectively. Financial, structural, and function factors served as barriers to care. Frequency of Internet use assessed user characteristics. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate predictors., Results: Being overweight (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 5.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.18, 14.11) was the only variable to affect likelihood of interest in an Internet-based weight loss program; income level was not a significant predictor. Having two or more psychosocial/behavioral risks (adjusted OR, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.50, 0.92) was the only predictor of interest in Internet-based parenting advice; income level was not a significant predictor after adjusting for other variables (OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.19, 1.55)., Conclusions: The type of risk and program topic decreased or increased likelihood of interest in Internet-based programming. Weight risks increased interest in weight loss programming, but psychosocial/behavioral risks deceased interest in parenting advice.