What does it take to create digital experiences which positively impact our health? How do user experience requirements change as digital evolves from a method for simply self-tracking health metrics to becomes a platform for diagnosing and even treating conditions. What are the requirements from different stakeholders, from end user patients to their casual networks of supporting friends and family, prescribing clinicians and the insurers and national health services which manage the costs. Hosts Marek Pawlowski and Alex Guest discuss examples, explore design principles and user research challenges.
On this edition
Links
- Headspace app mentioned by Alex
- Abhishek Gupta interview in episode 13 of MEX Design Talk (not episode 12, as mistakenly mentioned by Marek on the podcast!)
- Moves app mentioned by Marek
- Google Fit app mentioned by Marek
- Strava app mentioned by Alex
- Zombies, Run! app mentioned by Alex
- NHS 4-step process (PDF) for evaluating health and wellness applications, mentioned by Alex
- Market size figures from an FT article of £158bn annual spend on healthcare in the UK by 2020, 70 percent of which will be spent on treating preventable diseases, and a further £22bn on wellness, mentioned by Alex
- 165,000 health apps in the iOS app store mentioned by Alex
- Akili preparing its first commercial offering, a gaming platform designed to treat ADHD (mentioned by Marek)
- Behaviour Change Conference at UCL mentioned by Alex
- Drink Less app developed by PhD students mentioned by Alex
- Forming a new habit takes 2 months, academic research mentioned by Alex
- COMBI model for behaviour change mentioned by Alex (PDF)
- Experience design principles for trust mentioned by Marek
- PureTech Health, a publicly listed incubator which is applying digital-industry style start-up creation techniques to the healthcare sector, mentioned by Marek
- The Sync Project experimenting with music as a ‘precision medicine’, monitored and delivered through smartphones. Led by Marko Ahtisaari, former head of design at Nokia, and a former colleague of Timo Ahopelto, our podcast guest from Episode 7 of MEX Design Talk when they were both at Blyk, an MVNO (mentioned by Marek)
- iPhone breathalyser mentioned by Alex
- Peak Vision project using smartphone cameras to monitor eye health mentioned by Marek
- Inclusive Design Group at Cambridge Engineering Design Centre. Toolkits, including special glasses which simulate reduced eyesight, to enable user experience designers to empathise with their target users. Used by Gus Desbarats at MEX in 2010 for our Pathway on healthcare.
- Sonde using voice recognition techniques to detect early signs of diseases mentioned by Marek
- Digital Health London mentioned by Alex
About MEX Design Talk
The podcast for the MEX community, interviewing UX pioneers, exploring emerging technologies, user behaviour and how to design better digital experiences.
Thanks
- Jukedeck, for the artificial intelligence engine which provided the music
Marek PawlowskiMarek Pawlowski is the founder of MEX. Since 1995, he has focused the MEX business on helping digital industries to develop better, more profitable products through improved understanding of user behaviour with mobile devices and wireless networks. MEX is best known for its events, research and consulting, which balance commercial, technical and user insights to define the future of mobile user experience.
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