You Don’t Have to Reinvent the Wheel: Applying Design Thinking to Evidence-Based Health Communication for HIV Prevention Implementation

Novel health communications strategies are needed to disseminate information to practitioners, not only about clinical innovations, but about evidence-based resources and tools they can use to integrate these innovations into practice. BLUPrInt is an NIH-funded research study designed to accelerate national access to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) by disseminating resources and strategies to frontline implementers. In 2025, the research team applied a psychological framework-self-determination theory-to guide a website redesign process that leveraged user-experience and user-informed design methods into website elements to improve communication and engagement. To assess impact, web analytic data were used to examine post-redesign changes in website traffic and engagement. We also evaluated users' experience with the revamped website. Our analysis revealed not only did more users find BLUPrInt, they engaged with more pages per visit and stayed longer on key pages, compared to past years. Website usability findings were supported by our evaluation data; at three-month follow-up, 100% had used BLUPrInt resources in their practice. This case study can inform future efforts to increase health communication strategies within the field of implementation science. Content and design elements that foster autonomy, competence, and relatedness provide a model for bolstering health communications competence and capacity.