When You’re Woozy, Design Matters

Last night I made the mistake of thinking I didn’t need pain meds anymore. I woke up at 1 a.m. with an aching jaw (still recovering from wisdom teeth surgery) and a sharp reminder of someone telling me to “stay ahead of the pain” as I scrambled for a pill to swallow, hoping that pain at this stage was “normal”.  

A few days earlier, still groggy from the anaesthetic, I’d pulled out the carry bag of papers my oral surgeon had sent me home with. Three separate sheets, three glossy brochures, all in different fonts and formats. One actually had the surgeons’ names printed in (gasp) Comic Sans.  When your brain is foggy or you’re not at your cognitive best, the way information is presented makes all the difference.

This isn’t just about wisdom teeth. Anytime patients are preparing for or recovering from a medical procedure, they’re at their least capable of decoding tiny-font, text-heavy documents. Anxiety, medication, and discomfort flood the brain and cloud comprehension. That’s exactly when design should step in to help.

Here are a few principles that could make a big difference:

One “Most Important” page

• A single sheet that tells patients what to do first: when to take medications, what to eat (and avoid), the basics of aftercare, and who to call in an emergency.

Big, clear headings framed as questions

• What do I need to do after surgery?
• What’s normal? (with a simple timeline and common side effects)
• What’s not normal, and what should I do? (with clear steps)

Make it easy to read

• Use large font sizes. Tiny text is hard for everyone, and not everyone has perfect eyesight. 
• Keep sentences short and free of jargon.
• Use visual cues like bullet points, icons, or color coding to help people scan quickly. 

These principles aren’t limited to medical handouts. The same lessons apply beyond medicine. Obvious examples include emergency evacuation signs, disaster kits, and airline safety cards – situations where people are likely to be stressed, tired, and scared. Good design in those moments isn’t about making something “pretty”, it’s about reducing harm and even saving lives.

The same logic extends to your website. Visitors may arrive overwhelmed, tired, traumatized, under pressure, or stressed, looking for a solution to their problem. Just like me in the middle of the night, they’re looking for one thing: quick answers and reassurance. Do you give them a clear “most important” page with the essentials? Can they scan and find answers in seconds?

Whether it’s a patient with an aching jaw or a visitor looking for answers, design isn’t decoration. It isn’t just marketing or branding. 

It’s survival.