User-Oriented Interface Design for Medical Products

A user-friendly medical product results from user-centered design.

An interactive medical product is never ergonomic or usable itself. Its operating quality can only be seen in reference to the specific users with their individual needs, tasks, and objectives, as well as their physical, social, and organizational environment of use. By usability experts, this is referred to as context of use.

A Systematic Approach to Success

In order to systematically develop user-friendly medical products, Medical Safety Design implements the user-centered design process. As required by the standard DIN EN ISO 9241-210 (revised DIN EN ISO 13407), the usability experts conduct four phases:

The first focus of Medical Safety Design lies on the context of use. Then, individual solutions are created based on the collected requirements: Interaction and design concepts are developed. In the next phase, this design is made perceptible by means of prototypes in which the concepts have been implemented. In the final phase, usability and risk management experts evaluate whether the concepts and their implementation meet the defined user requirements, which is for example done by a usability test in which health care professionals and patients are observed when using the product.