Pharmaco-Cybernetics as an Interactive Component of Pharma-Culture: Empowering Drug Knowledge through User-, Experience- and Activity-Centered Designs

The advent of the World Wide Web (WWW) has led to the creation of many web publishing platforms. Patients are becoming more well-informed through drug and health-related information over the internet. The integration of interactive media technologies and the WWW provides an opportunity to improve the pharmaceutical care of patients on anticoagulant therapy. In this paper, the concept of 'pharmaco-cybernetics' is introduced through the creation of an interactive tool which consists of a pill-catching game and hangman game designed to enable users to learn about warfarin tablet strengths and drug interactions, based on user-centered (UCD), experience-centered (ECD), and activity-centered design (ACD) approaches. Currently, this tool is largely based on UCD and ECD. However, the potential of incorporating the ACD approach in the tool's design is definitely attractive. Pharmaco-cybernetics can empower patients with the appropriate knowledge regarding their therapy so that they can better participate in the management of their health.