I’ve been reading texts on visual and data objects, space perception and data displays. And, I keep hoping against hope to find a manual titled, “Here’s Exactly What You Need to Do to Create a Flawless Web Interface Suitable for Every Audience.”

I press on…

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There’s an interesting public relations crisis going on right now with XM Radio – one of the two satellite radio systems. (the other one is Sirius Radio). I’ve had XM for years – it’s always on in the car. On my drive home yesterday evening, I noticed that the signal was very weak, and the “No Signal” error kept flashing. This was unusual, and I figured there was a problem with my radio.

Later that night I ran out for an errand and XM was still not working. I wondered if the problem was with XM and not my radio, so I checked a fan site – www.xmfan.com

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Remember when the only things us “webmasters” could really track were monthly hits and visits? When they went up, everybody was happy, except maybe my then-boss who asked me how many of that increased traffic was due to more people “going online”. Our industry has progressed and we have an enviable tool, those of us who maintain and oversee websites – access to an avalanche of statistics. With little trouble, we can learn how many people visit our site, view certain pages, and how they got there. Three mouse clicks show us which of our forms are getting the most responses, how our site visitors are using our internal search, and which of our PPC terms are getting the most traffic.

Of course, the dilemma is created: What do all of these statistics mean and how can I use them?

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OK, I will admit right up front that I am, perhaps, an “old” Webmaster. I started in this business – writing on behalf of a health care company – when we had to send stories for review by U.S. mail. Try to imagine it…postage stamps.

I was amazed by the convenience of the first fax machine that landed in our hospital laboratory. Now I have the privilege of acquiring 100+ new e-mail messages every day – and being invited to grab hold of even more information. Anything you could want is out there, just waiting to be read. That sound you hear is my head, spinning.

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Today the personal health record is at the infancy stage. In most applications, the user is asked to enter data about their demographics, conditions, medications, etc. either by selecting items from lists or by typing the information into text boxes. This data entry process reminds me of older versions of the personal finance programs in which there was no ability to download information from financial institutions. I tried it for awhile and it quickly became tedious to enter data in my checkbook and on the computer. I think the same thing will happen with these personal health records and I believe that this is part of the reason that the adoption rate/usage of personal health records is low today.

I believe that the optimal path to adding personal health data to a profile is that the user will find a page in a health content library and link it to their profile.

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