Healthy Discussions: Andrew P. Wilson & Flu.Gov Redesign

I recently had the pleasure of getting Andrew P. Wilson (one of the prominent voices of the HHS social media team) over here on Pulse + Signal with an interview on the recent site update of Flu.gov – one of the most credible places online to get info on things flu related.

After writing about the recent video PSA contest that was developed through HHS, I figured it would be great to get some inside information on what was going on with the redesign of the website. If you’re on Twitter – I would definitely recommend following Andrew for relevant public health and technology/new media information.

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PS: Can you tell us a little about what you do at HHS and what was the original purpose of the Flu.gov website?

APW: Sure. I am part of the team responsible for the management of the Flu.gov Website. Among other things, this involves maintaining the quality of the site information and working on improving the user experience. I also oversee most of the Flu.gov outreach using social media. In addition to my Flu.gov responsibilities, I am also part of the leadership for the HHS Center for New Media.

The Flu.gov website was originally created in 2005 as a response to concerns about a possible Avian (Bird) flu pandemic. Initially, the site was called PandemicFlu.gov and was only recently renamed Flu.gov this past summer. Despite the name change, the mission of the site has remained fairly consistent although the scope has been broadened to include seasonal flu information. In short, Flu.gov is the “one-stop-shop” for flu-related information and resources. Although the site is maintained by the Dept. of Health and Human Services, we are really a cross-government site and have information from many other parts of the federal government including the Departments of Agriculture, Education and Labor. Finally, even though the site is focused on federal activities, we do provide relevant state and international news, information and resources.

PS: What prompted the decision to change the look of the site and what elements were added (and why?)

APW: There were several reasons why we moved to a new look and feel for the site. First, as a result of the high level of interest in H1N1 this spring, we had a tremendous amount of information about what people were looking for when they visited the site. This information gave us actionable insight into how we could better address our users’ needs. Second, as the site’s original focus was on Avian flu, we had to rethink how the site content would be organized to reflect it’s broader mission – seasonal flu, H1N1 flu, Avian Flu, and possibly others. With this information, we conducted extensive usability testing to make sure that we implemented the changes we identified as effectively as possible.

There are many new features on the site and we continue to add features and content almost daily. That being said, and before I speak to some of the more visible changes, I want to emphasize that most meaningful changes are those that are really “invisible”. These include rewriting content in plain language to make in more readily understandable and improving navigation so people can more easily get to the content they need. As for other changes:

• The new “features” area at the top center of the site. This area allows us to highlight content in a way that we could not have done previously. This is absolutely critical when the situation is evolving and it changes so rapidly.
• The “H1N1 online self-evaluation” was recently rolled out as a way to help educate people about the more serious flu symptoms- particularly those symptoms and conditions that need the attention of a medical professional. Although the tool is not meant to be a substitute for a doctor’s advice, it can help people better understand the flu symptoms.
• The “Ask the Experts” section allows people to get answers to specific questions about the flu and allows us to highlight answers to questions of particular interest. In addition to being a valuable service, this feature is a great way for us to us to help identify content areas that may have been overlooked or not have been as clear or as visible as they should be.
• Our Interactive Google Map brings together a variety of H1N1 news, information and resources and results from our partnership with HealthMap.org (who is also responsible for the iPhone app – Outbreaks Near Me). We knew from the H1N1 outbreak in the spring that there are many people mapping outbreaks and related information and we need to have a resource on par with the best tools out there. Moreover, we saw this as an opportunity to integrate and highlight social media outreach conducted by partners at different levels of government.
• The “Flu Myths and Realities” feature allows us to respond quickly to rumors and inaccuracies.

PS: Is HHS moving toward being more comfortable with new media tools and new ways of communicating? The PSA video contest was great – how did that come about?

APW: In the federal space, HHS has a tremendous amount of experience and expertise in using social media. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has long been one of the outstanding leaders in this area but there are many other agencies and offices in HHS that have been using these tools successfully. For example, the team behind the AIDS.gov blog has made great strides in their mission to foster public discussion on using new media effectively in the response to HIV/AIDS.

However, this past year has seen some considerable advances in how these tools are being used. The use of social media during the Salmonella outbreak earlier this year and again during the on-going H1N1 outbreak has shown that social media has a significant role to play in crisis situations. In addition, interest and use of social media has spread much more broadly across the Department. As an example, there are now more than 30 Twitter feeds in the Department covering a wide variety of topics and issues.

One of the increasingly important parts of the HHS new media toolkit has been video. As part of the H1N1 response, Flu.gov now streams 2-3 events each week, with each event available on-demand after the event. However, many of these Flu.gov events have followed very traditional formats and we knew that we needed to consider other options if we wanted to reach different audiences. The Flu.gov video PSA contest was a great mechanism to fill many different needs. By engaging the public to help spread the word about practicing healthy habits, we were able to get videos that resonated with a wide range of audiences. Moreover, the participatory nature of the contest, both in the creation of the PSAs and in the public voting, helped create thousands of “citizen evangelists” who were able to help us spread these critical public health messages.

PS: What can consumers expect in the future from Flu.gov?

APW: I don’t have any specific features that I can highlight now but the essence of what we want to do is remain responsive to the needs of public as the H1N1 situation continues to evolve. There are really two sides to this. First, we want to continue to monitor both traditional and new (i.e. social media) metrics to see what issues are of most concern to the public and make sure that we respond to those needs on our site. Second, we want to make sure that we get information out to people to the places where they spend the most time online. Content put in those spaces must be appropriate to the medium and it must be “sharable”. There are many people that are willing and able to help us get our messages out. It is our responsibility to make sharing as easy as possible.

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Thanks so much Andrew for taking the time out to answer those questions! Overall, I’m really excited that HHS is striving toward understanding and implementing the stuff that matters when it comes to new media. Just like everything else, this is all a learning process but most importantly it’s a participatory process.

Keep up to date with Flu.gov via their Twitter feed as well!

Tagged as: flu, hhs, New Media