"If The Guardian can do it, we should be able to do it!" Examining Public Health Infographic Strategies used by Public Health Professionals

This paper reports on research conducted together with Public Health England (PHE). It identifies key issues around the designing and commissioning of infographics by public health professionals working in PHE and local authorities. What are the criteria for their use? What barriers to design innovation exist? How do staff value the potential of infographics and seek inspiration? The results are based on qualitative methods involving semi-structured interviews with staff from within PHE and four local authorities. Results concur with Smit et al (2014) that there is a need for the convergence of skills. Staff discussed problems such as software availability, time, budgets and access to designers. Whilst commissioning does take place, there are no set criteria to help staff with this process. The challenges of information flows and of simplifying data for decision makers and the public was a key concern. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations to aid design innovation in the future.