Michael Dahlweid*, German Chamber of Physicians, College for Emergency Medicince, College of Medical Informatics, Banbury, United Kingdom Track: Business Presentation Topic: Human-Computer Interface (HCI) Design Presentation Type: Rapid-Fire Presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Building: Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School Room: B-Bray Room Date: 2012-09-15 02:45 PM – 03:30 PM Last modified: 2012-09-16

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“For those of us who develop technologies to try to address human concerns and make the world a better place, it is essential to understand the nature of the human in human concerns.”
Human Computer Interaction Institute Director Justine Cassell – February 2012

New technologies can never truly succeed if they are not designed around the ultimate requirements, desires and fears of the end user. Whilst healthcare IT systems are undoubtedly a major benefit, they are not without problems. Many studies suggest that poor user interface design could actually contribute to medical errors.

Providing an outstanding interface to their technologies for consumers is high on everyone’s priority list. A badly designed retail website will have fewer customers than the well designed, easily navigable site of a competitor. This facet is more important in healthcare environments than anywhere else - the risks presented by an incorrect mouse-click are greater and there is a likelihood in systems being accessed by patients, that some of those users will be more vulnerable.

It would be wrong to assume that patients and clinicians are prepared to accept “lesser” technology when dealing with their healthcare provider than they would accept in any other context. Their technology-consumer experiences have a significant impact on expectations of the accessibility, ease of use and functionality of healthcare systems. Why shouldn’t they be able to book a hospital appointment through their smartphone at the local coffee shop?

A key characteristic of healthcare IT is its two specific groups of “end users”. These technologies need to be available to both clinicians and patients – both groups with massively varying requirements. Flexibility within the design of user interfaces is essential to create genuine accessibility to each and every end user.

Numerous studies have shown that clinical staff rate specified information systems with improved visual customisation more highly than general clinical systems. However, within the clinician group itself there are widely varying opinions on what makes an ideal UI. This is where customisation and self-customisation of design comes into its own. Clinicians agree that making software easier to use also decreases the chance of human error – ultimately making systems safer.

At the heart of our strategy to unify healthcare technologies is our Bluebird technology. Bluebird is a cross functional and multi product environment supporting a modern user experience across functional areas and technology. Both modern design and excellent usability are important parts of the Bluebird approach.

Bluebird has its origins in the desire to offer a modern UI design and a good usability of healthcare applications. The ability to change the look and feel of the UI is important to underpin the aim of providing modern healthcare software using state of the art technology and design.

We are hopefully all agreed that the role of healthcare IT is not to dictate a “one size fits all” look and feel of technology to users – but rather to listen, and facilitate input from users to customise and ensure a design that is comfortable, functional and enjoyable.