User experience in medical software projects
User experience in medical software project is a cornerstone of success. During a recent professional development workshop on user experience design in medical software, a fellow participant’s insightful suggestion about radiologists’ working conditions resonated deeply with me. Which is important, he explained his point to us. Undoubtedly, spending hours in a dark room looking at monochromatic images on black-and-white screens must feel depressing. Wouldn’t it be more beneficial, he asked, to have the MRI scans displayed in colour? We were all nodding, feeling positive that the job could become less monotonous and dispiriting.
Well, it wouldn’t. As it turned out our assumption only proved how little we had known of the true nature of the profession. Allegedly radiologists intentionally train to distinguish between minute differences in shades specifically in grayscale. Colour scale would render their task much more difficult.
The power of user experience in medical software
Why am I telling the story as an introduction to an article whose subject does not concern radiology? But the user experience in medical software? What I am going to do here is to discuss the challenges user experience design in medical software faces. While designing for health information technology. And it is the insufficient understanding by IT people of how health systems operate. And how healthcare specialists work which is the first and most significant of them.
Undoubtedly, digital health systems have bad UX is common knowledge. In fact, they have a good reason for that, or to be more specific, a couple of reasons.
For one thing, for years healthcare has been, of all industries, the slowest to introduce new technologies. Secondly, it is even said to lag by 10 years.
Emphatically, the amount of work spent in front of the screen added up to two hours per every hour dedicated to addressing a patient face-to-face (Why Doctors Hate Their Computers | The New Yorker [1]). What could be the reason? Important to realize, that the software developed for healthcare institutions has to answer the needs of multiple stakeholders. Employers, insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms, and the government. To conclude, patients and physicians often land at the end of this “food chain”. Hardly ever have a say in that matter.
They are not the “buyers,” so their needs do not get catered for in the first place. The software they confront with in their everyday practice may answer the bureaucratic needs of non-medical staff. But make their own operations a nightmare.
Redefining healthcare with user-centric design
Basically, the multitude of applications they operate on does not come from the same vendor. Oftentimes they are open source or home-built – the result being incompatible formats, a lack of interoperability and standardisation.
Let’s be honest. User experience in medical software has never been high on the list of priorities for the persons making decisions about software purchases for healthcare institutions.
As a consequence the end users have been forced to grin and bear it, to put in a lot of effort and master the user-unfriendly interfaces. Gradually they have learned to literally expect poor user experience as there was no competition on the market. Having grown used to the complexity of the software. Ironically it is them who are not willing to accept changes, which would mean unnecessary time-consuming onboarding processes hindering their everyday routines.
The length of development of new medical software
Large healthcare organisations are not agile, not able to frequently iterate solutions the way it happens these days for other consumer applications. The inertia of large systems means waterfall planning cycles and the final product rarely meeting the requirements of the end-user.
What makes user experience in medical software even more demanding than in other sectors of industry is the regulatory compliance – standards for risk and quality management, which software as a medical device has to meet. Plus it is not globally uniform, for example US is regulated by Quality Systems requirements of FDA and 510 K approval, Europe is governed by CE marking and ISO 13485 standard, China has its SFDA requirements, Japan follows PAL regulations.
A constant concern are the privacy issues. Healthcare systems are in jeopardy of cyberthreats. Data leaks, ransomware attacks – they are the patients’ and healthcare providers’ nightmare and another challenge for the UX designers.
Enhancing UX for a seamless healthcare experience
Notwithstanding the multitude of hurdles that await a UX designer when dealing with medical software these days there appears a greater need for improvement in the area as digital healthcare continues to expand dynamically.
The healthcare industry is undergoing a rapid digital transformation, and the need for user-centered design (UX) has never been more crucial. This is especially true in the field of medical imaging software development, where UX plays a pivotal role in ensuring accurate diagnoses, efficient workflows, and improved patient outcomes.
Medical imaging software is a critical tool for radiologists and other healthcare professionals. Enabling them to analyze medical images, such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs. It is used to diagnose and monitor medical conditions. However, the complexity and technical nature of these images can often make the software difficult to use, leading to frustration, errors, and delays in patient care.
Effective UX design in medical software – a challenge
Effective UX design can address these challenges by creating intuitive, user-friendly interfaces that are tailored to the specific needs of healthcare professionals. This includes simplifying complex workflows, providing clear and concise information, and minimizing the risk of human error. By prioritizing UX, developers can create medical imaging software that is not only easy to use but also enhances the overall quality of patient care.
The benefits of UX in medical imaging software development extend beyond the immediate usability of the software. A well-designed UX can also improve communication and collaboration among healthcare professionals, leading to more efficient and effective patient care. Additionally, a positive UX experience can reduce stress and improve job satisfaction for healthcare providers, further contributing to the quality of care.
As the healthcare industry continues to adopt digital technologies, the importance of UX will only grow. By investing in UX design, medical imaging software developers can play a critical role in improving patient care, enhancing healthcare workflows, and transforming the future of healthcare.
Designing for intuitive and efficient medical software
Effective UX design can address these challenges by creating intuitive, user-friendly interfaces that are tailored to the specific needs of healthcare professionals. This includes simplifying complex workflows, providing clear and concise information, and minimizing the risk of human error. By prioritizing UX, developers can create medical imaging software that is not only easy to use but also enhances the overall quality of patient care.
The benefits of UX in medical imaging software development extend beyond the immediate usability of the software. A well-designed UX can also improve communication and collaboration among healthcare professionals, leading to more efficient and effective patient care. Additionally, a positive UX experience can reduce stress and improve job satisfaction for healthcare providers, further contributing to the quality of care.
As the healthcare industry continues to adopt digital technologies, the importance of UX will only grow. By investing in UX design, medical imaging software developers can play a critical role in improving patient care, enhancing healthcare workflows, and transforming the future of healthcare.
The most recent and highly acclaimed:
To illustrate, GE Healthcare Edison Design System – Launched in 2020, the system aims to evolve the industry and unify UX across the company GE Healthcare with improved usability and consistency. Besides, it has won four awards: a Red Dot Award for UI Design, a FastCompany Innovation By Design Award for Graphic Design, and two Design Management Institute Awards.
Without a doubt, Edison Design System is a modern, responsive software design system for healthcare. Firstly, it spans design and code that includes styles, web components, CSS, icons, a custom Sketch toolkit, and detailed best practices on topics like AI and image viewers. Secondly, the system replaces four prior systems that had poor readability, usability and low adoption. Thirdly, it offers 3 choices of tech stack and 3 themes [2].
A UX Toolkit for the Life Sciences Community
User Experience (UX) practitioners from leading companies in the pharmaceutical, healthcare and scientific software industries – AstraZeneca, Bayer, GSK, MSD, Amgen, EMBL-EBI, Roche, Quattro Research created the UX for Life Sciences Toolkit to enable businesses to adopt UX principles and methods as they develop scientific software. https://uxls.org/ The toolkit comprises UX methods and case studies.
It is the result of a project initiated in 2017 by Pistoia Alliance. This is a global, not-for-profit alliance of life science companies, vendors, publishers, and academic groups that work together to lower barriers to innovation in R&D [3].
An attempt to unify the user journey by Google:
Google UX playbook for healthcare. Collection of best practices to delight your users. Collection of best practices to delight your users. The publication is a step by step manual illustrated with real-world cases which aims to expand on the 25 Mobile Design Principles and provide a checklist for improving mobile site experience [4].
A well-designed UX can minimize user error, enhance device usability, and improve patient outcomes. ISO 13485, the international standard for medical device development and production, emphasizes the importance of UX. ISO requires manufacturers to consider user needs throughout the design process. This includes conducting user research, developing user-centred design plans, and evaluating usability throughout the development lifecycle. By following ISO 13485’s UX requirements, manufacturers can ensure that their medical devices are safe, effective, and easy to use. Ultimately, contributing to better patient care.
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