Visual Abstract for Scientific Research
- Creative Process

What is a visual abstract?

A Visual Abstract is a brief summary of the key findings of an article, presented in a graphical format for easy uptake by readers. It gives the reader a quick overview of the main study findings at a glance, and helps them decide whether the paper is relevant to their interests. Such a representation of the study also allows for better dissemination of the article to a broad audience.

My role:

Principle designer and product owner/manager of this service whilst employed by JMIR Publications.

Technical tools used:

Adobe Illustrator, and Asana (for project management)

The problem

Researchers and healthcare professionals don't have time to read full research papers/articles with their busy schedules. Some papers can be over 20 pages long including tables and graphs.
Reader don't always have the technical background to understand scientific research.
Research are not easily digestible and are very text heavy.

Personas

Layout and Wireframes

I developed several version of wireframes to include space for each section of the research. All of the research was split into several categories. We asked the lead author to fill out a short form which requested them give brief answers, to make sure the visual abstract covers the main points the authors wanted to convey as a guide which our copyeditor/content curation team translated into simple easily digestible points.

These questions were:

Short title
Background information (the study design, sample, and timelines)
Brief Methodology (methods and interventions used)
Key Results (data points summarising the primary and secondary outcomes)
Summary (the key take-home message the readers)

When deciding the layout and proportion, the website where this would be published required the dimensions of the artwork to 1200px by 900px. With that in mind, I wanted all the key parts of the visual abstract to be visible when shared on social media. So I made edits until I came across this layout which showed the 'Background', Methods', 'Results' and 'Summary' sections regardless of which social media service the visual abstract was shared on.

Design Ideation

The copyeditor and content curator in the team reviews the filled out form and translates the information into simple digestible language in the AMA (American Medical Association) style. I strategically placed that copyedited text into the wireframe with relatable icons (which I customise) and colours which are part of the brand guidelines. I shared this with the team and also with the authors and made any minor edits where needed.

Accessibility and publishing

Once the author has approved the visual abstract and the contents of it, I then undertook a final design and web colour accessibility check. Our copyeditors had a final check on the text. We also generate summary text for the caption of the artwork so it can be read by screen readers. I then (as the product manager of visual abstracts) asked the production team to schedule the artwork to be published with the research. This is also shared on social media via the the publications' accounts and the author's accounts.

Conclusion

I led the team to complete visual abstracts for over 100 medical research articles whilst employed at JMIR Publications (jmir.org).

We repeat steps 4 and 5 for each new visual abstract. This typically takes 2 weeks from the time the author fills out the questionnaire form to the final artwork being approved.

More published examples can be found here.

Visual Abstract for Scientific Research - Creative Process