Can UX kill your product? UX Bug Stories in MedTech Products
Gadgets that measure steps, calories, heart rate — wearables — are a constant product on the electronics market. Mainly associated with sports.
However, is it right?
Many of these products were created not for sports, but for the health of users. Gadgets are not only supposed to collect data, but also to process it on an ongoing basis (AI), give alerts, advice or even administer medications. Even a simple thermometer has gained a second, electronic life.
But wait, how does that relate to the fact that bad UX can kill your product?
If the watch counts the steps wrong, nothing big will happen. But the already miscalculated temperature in the hospital...
Thermometer innovation
The introduction of electronic thermometers was not a technological revolution. However, if we take into account the need to shake the mercury thermometer (who did not get frustrated with that) vs. pressing a button to reset the temperature, the difference becomes apparent.
Also during the Covid pandemic, we had the opportunity to take advantage of the benefits of contactless temperature measurement, with an additional illuminated interface. These are small details that, for example, in the case of saving lives, help to save valuable time.
Innovative approach to medtech
A thermometer is a good example of innovation in medicine does not always consist in spectacular change. Often it means that something can be done:
- faster,
- più specificamente,
- reduce the risk of errors.
Today, most digital healthcare solutions are based on unique software or technology, often resulting in high-demand products that often lack competition.
As you might have guessed, usability does not always follow.
And about the fact that a bad experience with the product will be remembered by the user for several years, we explained in a podcast with Dr. Aga Szystek, who designs such experiences.
Asthma under (digital) control
Smart medical devices allow you to avoid mistakes and negligence in the administration of medicines, by automating the process and guiding users by the hand.
Let's take a traditional inhaler to the workshop. Most people think of a small container with a cap and a dispenser to press with your hand (with a long instruction manual).
Today, however, an inhaler can be much more.
Modern medtech devices for patients
The inhaler can be a coordinated electronic device! One that monitors the doses of drugs and explains with the help of an application how to use them correctly.
Imagine that your inhaler is like a battery in your smartphone — it tells you when you run out of medicine in the container, it has sensors that tell you how and when you last used it. And, if you do something wrong with the procedure (e.g. take a higher dose), it will tell you how to react and what next steps to take. This is already a little more than a simple drug feeder.
Bad User Experience not only harms the product — how to avoid it? [Checklist]
When so much depends on the “intelligence” of my medical gadget, how do I know if I can trust it? US FDAha perso la domanda. They have developed four actions that need to be taken to make a medical device work safely.
1. Define purpose, users, environment — story with unreadable font
The glucometer of one of the manufacturers was withdrawn from the market because the manufacturer chose... the wrong font size. The manufacturer forgot that advanced diabetes can result in impaired vision in patients.
2. Identify the risks of use - a history of brain surgery
Imagine you have brain surgery. The doctor makes a mistake and instead of operating on the left hemisphere, he operates on the right.
Why?
In the US, a brain scanner was released, which had the wrong interface. Doctors did not immediately realize that by scanning the right and left hemispheres, they were not able to assess which part they were observing. The designers of the user interface made only one mistake: a scan with the caption “right hemisphere” showed on the left side of the screen (and vice versa).
3. Estimate and prioritize the risk of use errors - a history of death from dehydration
A little girl, suffering from cancer, died in a spit after 3 days of dehydration because poorly designed display screen data about the patient and as many as three nurses, with more than 10 years of experience, did not catch information on him that The patient did not receive a drip.
4. Implement risk control and verify application safety
Reading the patient's history, in case of his stay in the emergency room, is crucial when starting further treatment
Why? Examples of product bugs that UX could solve:
- There are still medical systems that displays only the patient's date of birth, forcing doctors to calculate the age on their own. In the case of diagnosing an infarction, this is of great importance.
- The nail to the coffin in UX, for equipment displaying medical data, is touch interface, which... cannot be operated with gloves.
Walk a mile in someone else's prosthesis
The most common shortcoming in projects in the medical industry is going beyond technology and confronting it with patients and doctors.
Many modern devices bring significant innovation, but the lack of a proper interface or omission of the patient/doctor experience means that the use of the final product causes more problems than the promised benefits.
An example? Prosthesis on a half-year warranty
I have a friend who uses a sports leg prosthesis on a daily basis. He bitterly told me that when the prosthesis was damaged, he had to send it back for repair for three months. Why? Because another company produced the component responsible for the mechanism of moving the foot and another for the mechanism that connects the foot with the rest of the prosthesis.
For almost half a year, he could not train, because he waited for the manufacturers to agree on the issue of repair. It could have been avoided!
In summary: incorporate not only technology into the product, but also your user
Whether you want it or not: if you manufacture medical equipment, then you have to invest more in its usefulness. At stake is not only the success of your business, but quality of life for your users!
The UX industry points out the most common deficiencies in medical products — see which ones:
Lack of user involvement in the interface design process.Only they know what and where they want to see on the screen/in the product.
- Missing
Testing with usersat an early stage of product development.
- There is no mindfulness in design.
There is a lack of communication between man and machineand understanding user paths, usage patterns, or a simple hierarchy of information.
- Ensure a clear and precise language of communication (We talk more about UX writing here) Especially in a life saving situation.
- Visual design. It may seem that the color of the button, or the font size is of secondary importance. But do you remember the example of a glucometer? Well, that's right.
It may seem that the pleasure and ease of use does not matter for medical products. But, as the example of a thermometer shows, the user will turn only where he will feel safe and good, and for using the product he will not overpay with his own life and health.
