藥袋是提供病患切身用藥資訊最簡易的管道，也是多數民眾主要的用藥資訊來源，目前國內多數醫療院所使用的藥袋，偏重以文字來傳遞訊息，但考量年長者因視覺感官退化，近五年來國內醫療單位紛紛發展出圖像藥袋藉以輔助用藥資訊傳遞，幫助民眾識讀與記憶；然而年長者容易因文字識讀不易、記憶力衰退，深陷錯誤用藥的危機當中，更嚴重將可能造成生命損害，因此提供該使用者族群容易搜尋、閱讀之圖文資訊呈現則成為我們必須關注的課題。
為暸解如何架構符合使用者閱讀、搜尋之圖像藥袋圖文呈現，本研究設定以北部地區醫療院所的圖像藥袋為範圍，進行圖像藥袋的相關探討、使用者評估與設計，在針對國內圖像藥袋現況以及相關文獻資料的探討後，本研究分為兩階段進行研究，第一階段重點為透過使用者探討原版圖像藥袋之圖文資訊呈現的問題點，於問題發現後，藉由訪談藥師與視覺設計師等兩類專業人員如何改進所發現之問題點，並依據專家訪談所歸納出的設計建議進行圖像藥袋的改良設計；第二階段則將新版圖像藥袋進行使用者測試，檢視改良樣本是否改善原版圖像藥袋之問題點，最後依據分析結果，歸納出讓使用者容易搜尋、閱讀之圖像藥袋應具備之設計準則。
根據本研究各階段結果發現，(1) 建構圖像藥袋的設計時，應考量包含資訊架構、版面編排、標題、字體大小與字型、色彩以及圖像符號等六個視覺要素；依使用者閱讀程序進行資訊架構與編排，並考量標題、字體字型的運用能被察覺、閱讀，色彩需注意到對比，以及輔助之用的圖像是否容易被聯想。(2) 透過專家訪談彙整出改良設計的參考建議，為了使資訊架構容易理解，藥袋上各項資訊可歸納為四大類：病患基本資料、藥品資訊、服用藥物資訊、次要的藥品資訊，並加上標題明確引導各項資訊位置，而字體大小與色彩的使用均需謹慎考慮該族群的視覺能力，結合圖像容易被發現的特性，增加注目程度。(3) 經使用者的測試結果顯示，使用者認為新版圖像藥袋的資訊架構次序容易理解，且增加藥品外觀圖像的輔助，使用者能更快速辨識藥品外觀並核對藥物，更重要的是能幫助使用者將藥物放回正確的藥袋中，避免錯誤用藥之情形。(4) 用藥圖像中的飯前、飯後圖像藉由上下順序來幫助聯想先後關係，讓使用者能快速理解、吸收資訊。(5) 在新版圖像藥袋中的內文字型採用楷體，據使用者反應楷體字在閱讀時，其在視覺上的感受相當舒適，且當字體大小變化時則會產生視覺上有粗體、細體的感受，有助於快速發現重要資訊。因此應用上述設計方法，將可提供給使用者容易閱讀、搜尋的圖像藥袋，提升圖像藥袋的使用性能。

With the drug bag being an easiest way by which patients derive the medication information that concern them the most, it is also a major source of medication information to the majority of the general public. Although the drug bag adopted by a majority of local medical institutions continues to rely on the text to convey the medication information, yet by taking into the elderly‘s deteriorating visual sensory, local medical institutions have increasingly turned to developing pharmaceutical pictograms for prescription on drug bags over the recent five years, aiming to facilitate in conveying the medication information, and helping the general public recognize and memorize. Yet with elderly more prone to be entrapped in the erroneous medication crisis for their difficulties in reading the text and as marred by their deteriorating memories, which could lead to loss of life in the worst scenario, hence how best to devise the presentation of pharmaceutical pictograms and text that enables said user group to search and read easily has emerged to become a subject that we must be concerned of.
To decipher how best to map out the pharmaceutical pictograms and text that facilitates the user to read and search, the study aims to conduct relevant exploration on drug bags and user assessment and design by focusing on the drug bags with pharmaceutical pictograms adopted by medical treatment facilities and hospitals in the northern area of Taiwan. And upon examining the current state of local drug bags with pharmaceutical pictograms and exploring relevant literature information, the study has begun the study by dividing it into two stages, where stage one focuses on exploring the problematic points in the original layout of pharmaceutical pictograms and text for presentation on drug bags from the user’s perspective, and upon identifying the problems, interviews have been conducted with two types of professionals, i.e. the pharmacists and visual information designers, on how to improve the problematic points identified, and the design recommendations derived from the expert interviews are used to devise the improved design for the drug bag; stage two pertains to applying the new version of the drug bag through the user testing, by which to examine whether the improved specimen helps to improve the problematic points of the initial version of the drug bag, and at least, the analysis findings are used to summarize a set of design criteria required of the drug bag with pictograms that enables the user with easy search and reading.
The study findings derived from the various stages reveal that: (1) When mapping out the presentation of a drug bag with pharmaceutical pictograms, it is prudent to incorporate the six visual elements of information framework, layout, heading, font size and type, color and graphic symbols, whereby the information framework and layout are conducted according to the reader’s sequence of reading, taking into consideration that the adaptation of the heading and font size is recognizable and readable, and the color contrast also needs to be addressed, as well as determining whether the auxiliary graphics adopted offer easy association. (2) By sorting and consolidating the expert interviews to derive reference recommendations for an improved design, and to enable an easier comprehension of the information framework, the information on a drug bag can be grouped into four major categories: the patient’s basic information, drug information, drug administering information, and secondary drug information, coordinated with headers to clear steer the location of various information, while stringent consideration also needs to be made to the font size and color usage, catering to the user group’s visual recognition, combining the recognizable characteristics of pictograms, to improve the levels of visual appeal. (3) The user testing findings revealed that the users find the new edition of the drug bag offers a comprehensive order of the information framework, and the addition of the auxiliary drug product appearance graphic also enables the user to quickly recognize the appearance of the drug and verify the drug, and more important, it is able to help the user put the medication back to the correct drug bag to avoid the scenario of misusing the drug. (4) Two pharmaceutical pictograms taking a medicine before meals and taking a medicine after meals, helps the user associate the precedent relationship through an up-down sequence of order, enabling the user to quickly comprehend and absorb the information. (5) With the standard script adopted for the inner text of the new version of drug bag with pictograms, the user’s response indicates that the standard script provides a rather comfortable visual sensation when reading it, and the variation of the font sizes that creates the visual perception of a bold or fine style is helpful to steer the user to quickly locate important information. Consequently, when adopting the foresaid design method, it is able to provide the user with the drug bag that enables the user to read and search quickly, thus enhancing the usage functionality of the drug bag.

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