Picture the person you made the document for. Not the funder. The USER.
For the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), that person is a health department director between meetings, or a hospital lead trying to stand up an overdose response this quarter. They are not going to sit down with a highlighter. They need the answer on the page they opened.
That's the bar a toolkit has to clear. Not "is it thorough." Can someone act on it under pressure?
Careful Research That Was Hard to Absorb Quickly
NACCHO supports local health departments across the country, and with overdose rates rising, they set out to publish a comprehensive toolkit to help hospitals and health departments identify and support the people most at risk.
The draft was complete. Evidence-based, carefully sourced, urgently needed.
The format was the issue. Everything valuable was in there, and getting to it took real study. A resource you have to decode is a resource that gets bookmarked and never opened again.
The design had to:
- Feel approachable instead of overwhelming
- Deliver guidance clearly while avoiding stigma
- Support scanning and quick reference, not front-to-back reading
- Hold credibility with public health professionals
- Turn research into something usable in a real shift, on a real day
What We Built
We turned the draft into a 63-page publication built for health departments and hospitals nationwide.
- A polished layout aligned with NACCHO's brand standards
- Tables, diagrams, and icons redesigned for understanding, not decoration
- Imagery that emphasizes community, support, and trust, because tone matters when the topic carries stigma
- A structure built for smooth reading AND fast reference, since both happen
Every decision pointed at one goal: help a health leader act quickly.
Worth saying plainly... none of this changed the research. Not one recommendation. The content was already right. The job was making it reachable.
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From Reference Document to Field Resource
The toolkit stopped being something you study and became something you use.
Health departments can absorb it, share it internally, and apply it without an interpretation layer in between. It supports decisions being made in real time, which extends NACCHO's ability to equip local leaders during a crisis that does not wait for anyone's publishing calendar.
Here's the reframe worth bringing into your own work: a technical document has a user, not just a reader. Ask what they will be doing, where they will be standing, and how much time they have. Then design for that. Thoroughness that can't be reached in the moment isn't thorough where it counts.
If Your Guidance Has to Work Under Pressure
Toolkits, playbooks, field guides, protocol documents. If professionals need to act on your research in real conditions, the format is part of the intervention.
Book a call and let's talk about what yours needs to do.
See the full project in our portfolio: NACCHO.
