Empowering families with approachable health-result visuals

Making complex health information clearer — and more reassuring — for families

In partnership with the Healthy Kids Minnesota program, we created a suite of multilingual materials to help families understand their children’s test results — what they mean, why they matter, and what to do next.

Participants in MDH Biomonitoring’s Healthy Kids Minnesota program submit a urine sample from their child so MDH can test for the presence of potentially harmful chemicals. Families then receive individualized results showing whether their child has elevated levels and how those levels compare to other children in the program.

Deliverables included:

Information sheets for six chemical groups
Result pages for six chemical groups, created in collaboration with the Minnesota Depart of Health’s (MDH) R-developer to allow MDH to generate visualizations of results for each individual participant with speed and for years to come
Informational video
Cover letter template

A key part of this project was showing where a child’s results landed without creating unnecessary worry if levels were higher than others.

Versions of all materials were designed in 5 languages: English, Hmong, Karen, Somali, and Spanish.

A modified dot plot visualizes individual results within a larger story.

(Placeholder data shown)

A dot plot shows where a child’s level of specific chemicals (green dot) falls in comparison to other participants (white dots) and the program average (dashed blue line).

The results are intentionally shown without a numerical axis — centering helpful guidance and avoiding unnecessary alarm.

The approach was adapted for chemicals with special cases — such as the Priority Metals.

Iterative design and collaboration led to effective solutions.

Our collaborative process involved exploring multiple visual approaches during the sketching and mock-up phase.

We worked closely with the client team to accurately represent sensitive data and co-authored an audience survey to help validate the design’s effectiveness. We also partnered with R developers and translators to support accessibility across languages and formats.

Info sheets help families take action to reduce chemical exposure.

Custom illustrations highlight potential sources of chemical exposure and guide families on practical steps to reduce risk.

A consistent set of icons identifies exposure sources and ties the entire campaign together.

Chemical names are treated as stylized graphic elements — making them more approachable than complex scientific terms and visually connecting them to the Results Sheets.

An informational video walks families through how to read their child’s results.

Produced in five languages, the video walks through the results step-by-step — making the information clear for families of all backgrounds and pointing them to the additional resources included in their packet.