ABSTRACT
A tailored page is similar to the front page of a standard newspaper. The front page
contains set spots for the placement of stories, advertisements, and graphics. Day after
day, its layout and many of its graphic elements remain the same; only the story text,
story-specific graphics, and advertisements change. A tailored page is the same, except
that rather than content changing from day to day, it changes from person to person. In
both cases, the design and layout information needed to assemble each version of the
page, from day to day or from person to person, is determined by a design template. For a
tailored feedback unit, the design template is an empty copy of the tailored feedback unit,
containing all fixed elements (generic text and graphics that remain the same from person
to person), and indicating the location and characteristics of tailored message blocks (text
and graphics that change from copy to copy). Each tailored feedback unit in a tailored
health communication program has a single design template. This template serves as a
guide to the creation of actual message content (see chaps. 8 and 9) and the development
of the tailoring software (see chap. 11).
