Innovations in Healthcare UX

Healthcare changes as rapidly as the industry’s technology, meaning advancing care solutions with life-saving potential. In the era of a global pandemic, this technology has progressed quickly in the direction of user-focused tools, making care more accessible. As a result, UX design is evolving to produce cleaner and more adaptable platforms.

Here are some healthcare technologies that have disrupted modern healthcare UX and demonstrate how UX is changing for the future.

Telemedicine

Telemedicine is an aspect of telehealth that allows patients to contact their physician in real-time from a distant location. It’s been around in some form since the 1950s, but it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that telehealth solutions took off in popularity. Now, telemedicine apps and software are taking over the healthcare space, offering everything from data storage and communication to remote patient monitoring.

But telemedicine platforms dictate new approaches to UX. For instance, most users won’t be too familiar with telemedicine and will require clear guidance and tutorials through the software. An effective design focuses on clear onboarding while keeping usability simple throughout the process. Success with a telemedicine UX means planning around user functionality and making the process clear and accessible.

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Information Systems

Information systems are the definitive tools for healthcare administrative work. These tools allow for the communication and safe storage of patient data for analytics and research. In the modern era, these systems are being improved by new channels for data collection and advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The future of healthcare information systems, however, depends on effective UX design. Care administrators have to juggle patient information while doing other tasks, such as navigating a telemedicine call or using other technologies. This requires an adaptive system that stores data while protecting identifying information.

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Mobile devices

The growing popularity of mobile devices in healthcare has given rise to the Mobile Health, or mHealth, industry. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines mHealth as: “medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, personal digital assistances and other wireless devices.” Fuelled by innovation and increasing global connectivity, mHealth technology is growing at a fantastic rate. For example, in 2018, there were over 318,000 health apps available for download– almost double the number of apps on the top app stores in 2015.

mHealth technology can be used to deliver awareness campaigns and useful tools that give patients more power to maintain and improve their health. This may help to free up valuable resources and space in hospitals so that urgent patients can get the attention they need

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Wearables

Wearables on the Internet of Things (IoT) are making their way across industries. In the medical field, these connected devices enable the tracking of all kinds of medical data, which can then be communicated seamlessly between doctor and patient. But the UX has to promote transparency and privacy if these tools are to be integrated effectively.

Wearable devices need accessible navigation, allowing the user to look at exactly what data is being collected and how it’s being used. As these devices and their

timely insights become more commonplace, they will increasingly become a staple of healthcare UX design for the future.

Developers of all healthcare tools understand that technology can play a vital role in

improving care outcomes. UX is an integral part of this process and one that will come to define the future of care. As tech evolves, so too will UX design. We are already seeing these changes come into play as UX designers build experiences for larger audiences with these new tools.

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All told, the UX design for the future of healthcare centers around three prominent values. These are:

1. Accessibility

2. Adaptability

3. Clarity

All the innovations of the modern age can make it both harder and easier to achieve these goals. You’ll have to accommodate new technology using existing standards for accessibility and navigation, ensuring that your design is compatible with assistive technologies as well as the new devices being popularized across the healthcare industry.

From telemedicine to wearables, these new tools are changing healthcare. They allow for greater accessibility and more options for all kinds of patients and users. However, the UX design itself can still make or break the experience. If you want to develop a comprehensive user experience that invites in previously underserved audiences and gives them value in the form of care options, then you have to consider adaptability as well as accessibility.

The future of healthcare UX design is a system that works for everyone, everywhere. This means simple navigation, assistive tool functionality, and streamlined usability features.

Future healthcare is more equitable healthcare, so design your healthcare UX to accommodate users however and wherever they want to receive care.

Don Norman, the grandfather of User Experience Design, advocates a more prominent role for designers. He calls for designers to move from human-centered design to humanity-centered design.

Liorra strives to design, create, and develop applications and software systems which can be applied in various fields, aspects, and scenarios. One such offering which Liorra has created is the Siza Telehealth Project - Siza is a telehealth app that connects doctors with patients instantly, or through scheduled bookings. Contact us today to discuss, how Liorra can create software solutions and applications tailor made for your business.

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