Fighting Spirit: Designing a Breast Cancer Survivor Centered Web Site
Speaker
Anne Humphreys, Shelley Moertel, Tom Moertel, and Mark Paat
When
-
Where
Newell-Simon Hall 1305 (Michael Mauldin Auditorium)
Description
Fighting Spirit is an online resource designed for women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer, in treatment, coping with life after treatment, or experiencing a recurrence. Its content is written and designed so that women can start with the basics to reduce anxiety, foster understanding, access local resources, and educate themselves about treatment options.
The Fighting Spirit site is written and designed to provide clinically accurate information in a supportive way, relevant to each woman who accesses the site. This is accomplished in part by emphasizing clear and concise explanations of breast cancer related issues, research, treatment options, and survivorship. To the extent that we achieve this vision, Fighting Spirit will evolve into a resource shared by the entire breast cancer community.
Fighting Spirit is a collaborative effort between breast cancer survivors, family members of survivors, and health care personnel, each of who has a heightened sense of appreciation for the emotional chaos experienced by women who are newly diagnosed, are currently undergoing treatment, or who have recently completed treatment. Through their experiences, they can bring order to chaos by presenting information in a logical fashion with the utmost sensitivity to what women, friends, and family may be experiencing when dealing with breast cancer. All information on the site is reviewed and approved by the Magee/UPCI Breast Program physicians and staff, thereby assuring that Fighting Spirit is accurate, relevant, and consistent with the best modern medical practices.
Speaker's Bio
Anne R. Humphreys is the co-director of the Learning Systems Architecture Lab at Carnegie Mellon University. She is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, MA in Professional Writing (1994) and MA in Communication Planning and Design (1996). Anne was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 1999 at the age of 35.
Shelley Moertel is a founding principal of Gist Design, an information and interaction design firm based in Pittsburgh. She is a design professional with over eight years’ experience at leading teams of designers and engineers and creating effective user interfaces and product interactions. She has designed solutions for products ranging from web applications to wearable computers. Shelley received her Master’s degree in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.
Mark Paat is a native Pittsburgh resident currently working for MAYA Viz, an affiliate of MAYA Design, in the city’s historic Southside. He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, BFA Graphic Design, class of 1996.
Thomas Moertel is the founder of Moertel Consulting, a software and Internet technology consultancy in Pittsburgh. He is responsible for the technical implementation of the Fighting Spirit web site, the underlying content-management system, and Fighting Spirits multi-targeted publishing technology.