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Design thinking plays a crucial role in developing digital health solutions. Human-centred design that focuses on user satisfaction and the iterative, non-linear process of design thinking. This approach includes empathising with users, defining problems, ideating solutions, prototyping, and testing. Collaboration, diverse perspectives, and flexibility work well in the development process. We need to start small and gradually integrate design thinking principles, with the option of partnering with expert teams for guidance. Design thinking is essential in creating effective, user-friendly digital health solutions in a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.
With the digital health industry growing nearly 20% every year, what can healthcare companies do to make their technology solutions stand out? They need to create products that truly resonate with both patients and providers. The spotlight is firmly on user satisfaction, and the best way to gain that is through human-centred design (HCD). After all, "people ignore designs that ignore people".
As digital health solutions focus more on user needs and preferences, we can find more innovative ways to bring about user delight through design thinking. Theoretically, design thinking is defined as “a non-linear, iterative process that teams use to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype and test.”
Design thinking is not just an abstract idea; it's a real-world strategy driving innovation and results in the healthcare industry. But how do we apply this concept practically and realistically to the hands-on development of a customised digital healthcare solution?
So what is design thinking at its core? Simply put - it is a process to solve problems. However, instead of treating the creative and scientific methods as two different pathways to bring a digital health product to life, design thinking leverages both to enhance the development process.
This approach not only leads to better collaboration between teams - it requires them to work well together. This becomes even more important as we think about a common problem leaders face -- ineffective workflows when cross-functional teams don’t coordinate. By making collaboration necessary, design thinking helps solve a part of this issue and contributes to smoother, more productive teamwork as people join forces.
Developers deliver a better end-user experience while effectively addressing the problem that the digital health product or service was meant to solve. The process generally involves five phases—Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test.
Alternatively, design thinking is also represented as a visual model that shows the process as a series of divergent and convergent phases showcased as 2 "diamonds."
Discover: In the first “Divergent” diamond, we focus on exploring and understanding the problem. This phase involves research to identify the right problem to solve while empathising and understanding the needs of users and stakeholders.
Define, Develop, and Deliver: The second diamond represents the “convergent” phase, where insights gained in the discovery phase are analysed. Specific solutions are developed and refined through prototyping and testing. It narrows down the “right” solution to the defined problem.
The design thinking methodology can be applied to the ideation and development of any digital health solution, from web health applications and mobile health applications to health enterprise software or medical device software.
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While design thinking has shown tremendous success in the technology development process, understanding what actually takes place behind the scenes can help bring the advantages to the forefront. Imagine starting a journey to create an advanced digital health platform that is future-ready and adaptive to changes while staying useful and effective. Let’s take you through a design thinking approach to help bring this idea to life.
User Research Techniques Used for Successful Design Thinking:
Based on your research, you define the core problems. Organise and process the collected data to extract meaningful patterns and trends to narrow down possible digital product or service solutions that could help your target consumer. Product Strategy can help you evaluate how your product will achieve its goals, considering user needs and market trends.
Now, you brainstorm ideas to address these problems.
A few commonly used methods are:
Product Ideation helps refine creative concepts for new products or features. Applying User Experience Design can craft a seamless and enjoyable user journey while integrating User Interface Design can help create the ideal visual layout and elements for user interaction.
Create scaled-down versions of your app's features or develop interactive prototypes of the design and offer them to target groups for testing and feedback.
“Prototyping lets you take risks that you ordinarily wouldn't because the cost of failure is too high,” says Lucas Artusi, Systems Designer at the Design Institute for Health, a first-of-its-kind institute founded in 2015 as a unique collaboration between the Dell Medical School and the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin.
Gather feedback by letting potential users interact with your prototype.
Common methods used in this stage could be:
The product's readiness for use is ensured through rigorous testing solutions. Beyond functional testing, an assessment is made to confirm the proper functioning of the product's features. Testing automation software is employed to streamline repetitive testing tasks, especially when faced with tight timelines. The product's speed and responsiveness are evaluated through performance testing, and potential vulnerabilities and data privacy issues are identified through Security Testing. A Design Audit is conducted to evaluate design elements, aiming to enhance both visual appeal and functionality.
What is unique about this approach is that these stages are iterative and not strictly linear. The reality of digital health tech development is that after testing, users want additional features like a community forum. This could lead you to go back to the ideation stage to brainstorm and refine this new feature idea. This iterative process ensures continuous improvement.
By applying these design thinking stages to building a health app, you've created a human-centred solution that addresses users' needs by providing a valuable and effective tool.
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As more organisations embrace design thinking, the question arises: how to introduce this mindset effectively when building your digital health solution? Here's a concise guide to championing design thinking:
If diving into these processes on your own seems overwhelming, here’s an alternative: Team up with a specialised digital health technology partner. This collaboration offers more than just guidance—it's a way to make your journey effective and efficient. Montar knows the ins and outs of design thinking with experience in the healthcare industry. It may be a smoother way to weave a design thinking approach into your strategies.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital health, where innovation is the cornerstone of progress, the design thinking approach promises to be a game changer in developing and using technology solutions in healthcare. By placing users at the heart of the development process, design thinking ensures that your product is well received and used by their intended audiences- patients or providers. Every tap, every click, and every interaction becomes a testament to user-centred design, creating digital health solutions that are not only powerful but undeniably human.
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Service design will tremendously impact healthcare, and methods like design thinking can help your product stand out in an increasingly growing market. If you want to find out how design thinking can help elevate and amplify the effect of your digital health solution, reach out to the expert team at Montar Healthtech for consultations.
