--- title: Emotional modes lang: en status: accepted type: principles/reasoning-tool layer: principle depends_on: - foundation/constant-contextual propagates_to: - baseline/* - communication/* last_verified: 2026-08-27 --- # Reader state as a design entry point ## Why the same reader needs different communication A person filling in a form some time before a first doctor's appointment. This same person sitting in the waiting room ahead of a conversation with the surgeon. An hour from now, the same person sits in the recovery room after the procedure. Same human being. Same clinic. Same brand. But what is needed from us is entirely different. Filling in the form, the person is at ease – balanced. The patient has no reason to worry or be agitated. Here the communication needs to be clear and easy to use: *this is predictable, professional and expected – I know what I need to do.* Clarity supports purpose. In the waiting room, uncertainty dominates. The patient doesn't know what is going to happen, or how it will feel. Here our communication needs to create predictability: *this is what will happen, in this order, and we are here the whole way.* Structure eases uncertainty. In the recovery room, what the person does not know has changed. The patient knows something has happened to their body, but not quite how it went or what happens now. Here the communication needs to be reassuring and concrete: *this is what happened, you are here, this is what happens next.* Affirmation and the next step – not process overviews. | | The form, before the first appointment | The waiting room, before surgery | The recovery room, after | |---|---|---|---| | **Reader state** | At ease, need for guidance | Uncertainty, need for control and overview | Disorientation, need for affirmation | | **We lead with** | Options: relevant, clear | Process: what happens, step by step | Outcome: what happened, you are safe | | **We dial down** | General information | Clinical details that may increase worry | Information that requires a decision | | **The format supports** | Action – understanding the consequences and choosing the next step | Overview – list, timeline, contact detail | Simplicity – short text, large type, one thing at a time | This table follows one person through three occasions. It is not the list of modes – that is below. The state belongs to the person in the moment rather than to the person in general, which is why the same human being appears in all three columns. **The Aleris voice is the same across all situations. The information architecture is entirely different – because the patient's reader state is.** --- ## The principle Before you make a communication decision – whether it concerns a website, a brochure, an app, or a sign – start with the question: **What state is the reader in?** In health care we communicate with people whose experiences are influenced by a wider range of factors than most other businesses. On the one hand our patients might be experiencing pain or fear or confusion – or just having a normal day. On the other hand we have a range of people from clinicians and public administrators to next of kin or consumers looking for the best service. What connects them all is also our purpose: guidance to their next best step. What can we surmise about the state of the reader? The answer doesn't determine *what* we say (that's a content question) but *how* we structure it. What we lead with. What we dial down. How much we explain. Which form supports rather than disrupts. It isn't a question of style – it's a question of structure. The same content, structured around the wrong reader state, can become overwhelming or sound empty or disingenuous. --- ## Three families of reader state **Emotional modes** – for patients, where the state is genuinely a feeling. - **Uncertainty** – the person is not sure about what lies ahead, possibly even worried or afraid. Perhaps before an assessment, a procedure, or a piece of news. Need: predictability, control, human contact. - **Curiosity** – the person has actively chosen to be here and wants to feel affirmed in that decision. Perhaps a health check-up, an aesthetic consultation, or a wellness initiative. Need: a focus on outcome, signals of support and quality, low friction. - **Balanced** – the person is partway through using one of our services and wants it to go smoothly. Perhaps logging in to check a booked time, filling in a form before a first appointment, or chatting with staff. Need: clear purpose, feedback, managed expectations, and friction only where it earns its place. There are more nuances, but the three basic modes are enough for most communication decisions. **Dispositional states** – for professional readers, where the state is a stance rather than a feeling. In general, patients and next of kin often have different (higher) stakes than professional readers. Health practitioners, coworkers and decision-makers read from positions that are more operational and impersonal. Messaging intended for patients is evaluated professionally when encountered by this group. Material intended for them needs to be structured according to their needs, not the patient's. **Practical states** – for next of kin, where the person is helping someone else and the state is set by the job in front of them rather than by a feeling of their own. They are frequently worried as well, and are still best served by making the job doable. --- ## Other audiences, other states The voice stays constant; the reader state shifts what we lead with and dial down. Mirrors the *Across audiences* table in [[voice]]. | Audience | Dominant reader state | Lead with | Dial down | |---|---|---|---| | **Patient** | Emotional – uncertainty / curiosity / balanced | What happens to them; the next step | Detail that overwhelms or alarms | | **Next of kin** | Practical – a helper supporting a close one (often also worried) | The jobs they're doing for the patient – using a service, travel to/from the clinic, translation, forms – and what to expect | Casting them as helpless; centring the text away from the patient | | **Care practitioner** | Dispositional – time-pressure, cognitive load | What's changed and what it means for their work | Background they already hold | | **Coworker** | Dispositional – needs clarity, respects time | The decision or action, and why | Corporate padding | | **Decision-maker, private** | Dispositional – opportunity / risk assessment | The value case and the evidence | Unsupported claims | | **Decision-maker, public** | Dispositional – scrutiny, accountability | Reliability, evidence, how risk is handled | Anything that reads as a sales pitch | The professional rows are analytical starting points, not researched. Validate them with the people who do that work before treating them as settled. --- ## Quick test 1. **What state is the reader in right now – what do they feel, or what pressure are they under?** That tells you what you need to address. 2. **What do they need to feel after reading/seeing/hearing this?** That tells you what to lead with. 3. **What risks making the situation worse?** That tells you what to dial down. --- *Reader state governs the expression. The character – presence, calm, precision, warmth – is constant. But what we lead with, what we dial down, and how we structure the content adapts to where the reader is. Doing the same thing regardless of state isn't consistent – it's absent.*