mHealth – Usability Sells

Bill Evans Bridge Design, Inc

User Interface | Industrial Design

Why the growth of interest in better medical UIs?

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Note: 1 Billion smart phones!

Why the growth of interest in better medical UIs?

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Why can’t the products I use in my job be as easy to use as my smart phone?

Companies think in products… Users buy experiences

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See YouTube – A Day in Glass

It’s the experience they buy– not the pure functionality

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We are in the Healthcare and Wellness App steam age

Stephenson’s Rocket 1830 30 mphTGV 2007 357mph

What does a good Healthcare or Wellness UI do?

A good UI is driven by an empathy with the user and works to engage them with the interaction

….getting the design team out to observe or conduct testing starts to build an empathy that helps them start seeing through users’ eyes.Avoid KOLs.

The importance of UI architects

UI architects empathize

A good UI architect empathizes with the user and works to engage them with the interaction

Value of UI architecture misunderstood

The job of a UI architect is to help shape the functionality and flow of the interface. This is NOT about making screens look good; and it is NOT coding software.

It is defining the overall navigation structure, sequences, menus, links, interaction methods, screen layouts, with the goal of intuitive, efficient, error-free usability

UI architecture NOT ABOUT

UI architecture

…think about those UIs you’ve used that seem to have little or no understanding of:

What you will be trying to do

What mood, expectations and experience you’ll bring with you when you walk up to the screen

UI architecture

…we’ve all got our favorite UIs we love to hate:

The ticket machine for public transit…

The word processing and spreadsheet programs from the same “suite” that have differences of navigation for very similar (and often used) functions…

UI architecture

Now consider the difference between all those general UIs and how they have to appeal to a wide variety of users and uses and the challenges to create UIs for healthcare and wellness products….

UI architecture

We have to understand:

What our users bring to the interaction

All the things our users might want to do, as well as the most likely things

All our stakeholders, who can have significantly different needs (e.g. Nurses, risk managers and biotechs)

Safety and possible FDA issues

UI architecture

In many ways the rules of good UI are the same regardless of application, but god is in the details.

Sophisticated UIs are so new in our industry that there are few great precedents

Users expectations have been set high by very well developed smart phone UIs

UI architecture

Good UIs cost more to create than old-school healthcare UIs

BUT done right, they can really sell a product

Make sure you have one on your team…

Not having a UI architect is probably the #1 biggest source of lack of usability we see in product UIs

Strategies for better UI… (and some stuff not to do)

People don’t want fingers wagged at them – “You shall do this, or else…”

Compliance (of all kinds from weight loss to taking your pills) is a really big issue

The carrot works – draw them in

Look at and learn from gamification - not always the answer but an interesting approach – especially in wellness (Nike+ example)

Classic example of “meet the requirements” not the needs

Frustrated expectations

not a touch screen!

from a blog entry “bad UI makes my kid cry”

Dense display with no clear navigation guideposts

Consider use environment…

Use well-known conventions

Throw citrus lever

Add lemon juice

user terms not machine states…

Simplify……

Beg to be pressed

Use skeuomorphs

Skeuomorphs are design elements that keep the looks of something that used to be necessary for the function in question

Do more with less (drink strength icons….)

Basically looking at criticality of the device – Were similar non-app products regulated? What the consequences of error?

• Perform a Failure analysis regardless of FDA – it is good practice

• If you have a choice - duck the FDA by altering features or doing a different product

• HOWEVER a blockbuster FDA regulated App would have a barrier to entry….

• If you are FDA will need design process documentation

• See link on posted presentation: http

://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/DeviceRegulationandGuidance/GuidanceDocuments/ucm263280.htm

FDA

Need to perform formative and summative usability testing: 

• Train as little as possible.

• Have the user perform tasks with little or no explanation.

• Ask questions at the end.

• Video record.

• Record all errors and near misses.

Important FDA requirements

Perform formative and summative usability testing: 

• Alter the design to eliminate errors and near misses.

• Be careful with “usability goals”

• Be clear what kind of testing you are doing and do not mix up formative and summative

• Structure summative testing carefully

Important FDA requirements

Summary of points

• Build usability into your design process and the “culture” of your product and company – it really sells

• Get the design team (even the SW coding guys) out to meet and EMPATHIZE with your users

• Carrot NOT stick

• Iterate Iterate Iterate; simplify, simplify, simplify

• Have a good product champion and UI architect

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Rendering

I look forward to tonight’s dialogue

Useful supporting material and electronic copies of previous workshop presentations are posted to a wiki web site:

http://touchscreens.wikispaces.com/

Contact Bill Evans bill@bridgedesign.com

+1 .415.487.7180

www.bridgedesign.com