The medical industry is one of the fastest-moving industries in existence. New research and discoveries are being made on a regular basis, meaning that your healthcare needs could change without warning. This is why UX design for healthcare applications differs from other types of apps: you have to provide quick access to information while still providing an experience that feels natural and fluid.
And since this app will most likely be for someone who needs instant or immediate information, it has to be easy enough for them to use, even if they’re not feeling well or don’t have their full concentration. In fact, 88% of patients say they wouldn’t return to an app after having a bad user experience. In this article, we’ll cover how to design a proper UX design for healthcare applications.
Understand The Types Of Healthcare Apps
Before you attempt to build a UX design for healthcare applications, you should understand the types of applications that are most popular in this industry. While there are many different sectors and niches, it’s essential to focus on one area instead of doing too many things at once.
Telemedicine
Telemedicine provides a virtual care experience that lets patients communicate with their doctors online. The physician can provide evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment without leaving his home office. Then, there’s also e-consultation where the doctor uses the app as a way to connect with other specialists in order to ensure they have all of the information needed for a proper diagnosis.
Electronic Medical Records
This is an application that tracks, stores, and manages medical records. This includes all laboratory results, diagnostic images, prescriptions, immunizations, vital signs, problem lists, and more information about the patient’s healthcare. There are also built-in modules for billing and workflow management to help make your job as a healthcare provider easier.
Reminder Applications
These are designed for medical staff, meaning that they’re used to remind them of the things they need to do each day. This can include things like sending messages or updating charts. They can also be used by patients who want access to their health records and other information without having to take up the time of a busy healthcare provider.
Medical Information Systems
These are the most complex of all healthcare apps, requiring a very deep understanding of human factors design. They are considered big software projects that deal with many different components, including business rules, workflow, patient care processes, clinical workflows across multiple specialties, and more.
Fitness and Health Trackers
Fitness and health trackers work to monitor and track a person’s fitness while also providing them with information on how to get better results. These apps allow you to improve your overall health by monitoring the different types of exercises you’ve done and helping you plan routines that will give you better results.
How To Design Apps For The Healthcare Industry
Once you’ve decided on the type of application you want to design within the healthcare industry, it’s time to start planning your UX design. Unlike other apps, healthcare applications have a very specific set of guidelines you need to follow.
Understand Your Target Audience
When it comes to UX design for healthcare applications, you need to put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. This means understanding their needs and what they’re looking for when using an application like this. What are they expecting from the app and who will primarily be using it? Will it be a patient, a doctor, a healthcare provider, or someone in between?
Create Simplicity Through Design
Because healthcare is such a complex industry, it’s important to create design simplicity through the UX design process. This means that you need to remove unnecessary features and make sure you only include items that are essential and will actually provide value.
Make It Functional
Not only do you need to focus on UX design, but also on the functionality of how an app like this actually works. For example, what does it do, and what types of tasks will it complete for you? If your application doesn’t provide users with an easy way to achieve a result, it’s not going to be useful to anyone.
Simple Navigation Is Essential
When it comes to healthcare apps, simplicity is king. As Digital Authority suggests, you need to make sure your navigation and design elements are simple and easy to understand by everyone who uses them. You also need to keep in mind that no navigation should be more than three clicks away from any other part of the app.
Colors Play A Significant Role
Since healthcare is such a visual industry, colors play an essential role when it comes to UX design. This means that your color scheme needs to be inclusive and diverse enough to meet the needs of all users. In addition, depending on the application you’re designing, you may want to consider how specific colors can impact patients and their doctors.
Accessibility Is A Must
Another part of healthcare UX design is ensuring that the app you create is accessible to everyone. This means it needs to meet specific accessibility guidelines so that people with disabilities can use it just as well as anyone else would. If your application doesn’t provide this type of access, you could risk being sued for discriminating against people with special needs.
Test And Retest
One of the best ways to make sure your healthcare UX design is on point is by testing and retesting it with different users. This will allow you to see if they understand how things work and if any difficulties come up while using the app. Then, once you feel confident that the design is ready to be released, you can roll it out to public users.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many different types of apps being designed for healthcare each year. For example, some people create apps that help doctors and nurses do their jobs better, while others focus on creating a way for patients to communicate with their physicians or access important information. However, with the proper knowledge and tools, you can also become successful in this industry by designing effective healthcare applications.
