Release date: 2015-12-25 When the regulatory authority is authorizing medical devices, in order to ensure the safety of medical devices and improve the availability of devices, both IEC62366 and FDA emphasize human factors and user-centered importance in the development of design activities. The development of mobile medical apps is no exception. The developer of the mobile medical app is not only to build an app like Angry Birds or Candy Crush, but also to create a mobile medical device app that can detect the user's health, diagnose symptoms, and smash for the user. Provide some guidance in the medical situation. Source: Arterial Network Disposable pressure transducer(For Intervention Use) Disposable Pressure Transducer(For Intervention Use) Disposable Pressure Transducer(For Intervention Use) Zhejiang Haisheng Medical Device Co., Ltd , https://www.hisernmedical.com
Therefore, the easy-to-use APP, crafted by mobile medical app developers, meets the needs and expectations of target users while reducing the risk of user error. Not only does this reduce CE and the US Food and Drug Administration approval process, it also increases customer adoption and satisfaction. To improve user experience and customer satisfaction when planning a mobile healthcare app, the following five user-centric designs are required.
1. Understand the expected use environment and user needs
User research requires the mobile medical app R&D team to understand the user's needs and the issues that need to be addressed. User research involves directly observing potential users in their intended use environment. When developing a mobile medical app, medical experts may bring many benefits to the members of the R&D team. At the same time, researchers may need to understand some specific and rich medical knowledge. By understanding the needs of users and the environment in which they are located, R&D personnel will have a better opportunity to integrate all the necessary functions and information to make the medical app more complete.
The results of the observational studies are recorded in the user scenario and task analysis. A user scenario is a brief narrative of a specific user with a specific goal. Task analysis is a detailed description of the human needs to complete the required steps within the user's context. These require a simple language that allows members of the R&D team and investors to reach consensus and often apply to future user-centered design activities.
2 , analysis of possible use risks and user errors
At the time of use, the R&D team should perform both risk analysis and traditional system analysis to determine the potential risks between the expected use of the APP and reasonably foreseeable misuse. Designers have a responsibility to create workflows and interaction designs to avoid errors. If the user action is indeed wrong, the mobile medical app should have a quick recovery procedure in the design. At the same time, designers should also realize that mobile devices have different inputs than desktop computers, and new users may need more time to become familiar with the app.
Differences in the age, intelligence, lifestyle, digitization, and health literacy of the target user may affect their proficiency in using the mobile app and cause errors. If the target user has a young, healthy technical control and a weak and disabled user, the developer needs to ensure that both types of users can effectively use the mobile medical app.
3 , the design model is in line with user habits
The application designer can ensure that the design of the app adapts to the user's habits by:
â— Focus on the main work and basic tasks of the user â— Ensure that the user completes the task without any difficulty â— In order to achieve the user's goal, multiple steps need to be designed.
Many users are already familiar with non-medical mobile apps, with the same expectations for navigation and interaction. APP developers benefit from the industry-recognized dynamic UI design navigation and interaction paradigm. The intuitive, straightforward experience provided is easy for users to learn and remember. As we all know, users do not invest a lot of time to learn new complex interactive modes, especially in the mobile Internet era, few users read manuals or help pages.
Designers who understand the concept of interactive design are critical to completing an efficient mobile interactive design effort. Interactive design allows users to enjoy the best visual experience and clear navigation by accessing and using the app. The interactive design minimizes the pan and zoom of the picture, adjusts the appropriate picture size, and provides convenience for the user's navigation.
4 , iterative design (prototype, experiment, improvement and repetition)
The iterative design approach makes the mobile medical app user interface more intuitive and easier to use. It can also control or mitigate potential risks. Iterative design is a design process for prototyping, testing, analysis, and optimization that requires early insight and feedback.
Therefore, any problem can be handled quickly, allowing iterations and adjustments before reaching the final design, and it is important to do this as early as possible. Repeated iterations of updates can minimize errors and problems.
Usability testing is designed to gather feedback from potential users on the prototype, which may be relatively short and involve fewer people. Some apps require a representative user to evaluate and submit important insights. Initial testing can quickly identify most potential problems.
5. Verify clinical efficacy
Final clinical testing indicates that the product is safe and effective for the intended use, user and use environment. This also shows that the design is effective and, in fact, reduces the risks associated with use. A representative sample of users should include all users who have tested mobile medical apps, which may include medical institutions, administrators, patients, and caregivers.
Summary testing is already part of the iterative design activity. Summative testing should really play the final role of safe use of equipment, because from a risk perspective, test usage should focus on critical and important work.
The user-centered design philosophy should run through the entire development process of the mobile healthcare app, including research on new users, analysis of tasks and risks, iterative design and evaluation, and all finalized verification tests conducted in the simulated environment at the final stage. . While this may require a deeper development path than building the next Angry Birds APP or Candy Crush app, it will be easier to get regulatory approval, reduce the risk of user error and increase customer satisfaction.