⚡ Quick Summary
This article reviews the significance of human-centered design (HCD) in developing digital health technologies, emphasizing its role in enhancing usability and effectiveness. It highlights emerging trends such as adaptive personalization and explainable AI that promise to improve digital health outcomes.
🔍 Key Details
- 📊 Domains Covered: Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), AI-based clinical decision support systems (AI-CDSS), and mobile health (mHealth) technologies.
- 🧩 Design Frameworks: Focus on user needs, capabilities, and limitations.
- ⚙️ Ethical Considerations: Data privacy, informed consent, and algorithmic fairness.
- 🏆 Challenges: Uneven implementation of HCD practices across technologies and settings.
🔑 Key Takeaways
- 👥 HCD Approach: Prioritizes the needs of patients, clinicians, and caregivers in digital health technology development.
- 💡 Emerging Trends: Adaptive personalization and explainable AI are key to enhancing user experience.
- 🔍 Usability Strategies: Effective design frameworks contribute to successful technology adoption.
- ⚖️ Ethical Issues: Addressing data privacy and algorithmic fairness is crucial in health tech.
- 🌍 Global Impact: HCD practices can lead to more inclusive and trustworthy digital health innovations.
📚 Background
The integration of human-centered design (HCD) in digital health is essential for creating technologies that are not only effective but also user-friendly. As healthcare environments become increasingly complex, understanding the diverse needs of users—including patients, clinicians, and caregivers—becomes paramount. HCD draws from systems theory, ergonomics, and information systems research to ensure that digital health solutions are tailored to real-world applications.
🗒️ Study
This review synthesizes current applications of HCD across four key domains: brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), AI-based clinical decision support systems (AI-CDSS), and mobile health (mHealth) technologies. It explores various design frameworks and usability strategies that enhance human-technology collaboration, ultimately contributing to the successful adoption and sustained use of digital health technologies.
📈 Results
The findings indicate that while HCD practices have shown substantial potential to improve digital health outcomes, their implementation remains inconsistent across different technologies and healthcare settings. The review identifies emerging trends such as adaptive personalization and explainable AI as promising directions for future development, aiming to create more inclusive and trustworthy digital health innovations.
🌍 Impact and Implications
The implications of adopting HCD in digital health are profound. By focusing on user needs and ethical considerations, we can develop technologies that not only enhance patient care but also foster trust among users. As digital health continues to evolve, the integration of HCD principles will be crucial in ensuring that innovations are both effective and equitable, ultimately leading to improved health outcomes across diverse populations.
🔮 Conclusion
This review underscores the importance of human-centered design in the development of digital health technologies. By prioritizing user needs and addressing ethical concerns, we can pave the way for more effective and inclusive health solutions. The future of digital health looks promising, with emerging trends offering exciting opportunities for innovation and improved patient care.
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Human-Centered Design and Development in Digital Health: Approaches, Challenges, and Emerging Trends.
Abstract
Human-centered design (HCD) has emerged as a critical approach for developing digital health technologies that are usable, acceptable, and effective within complex healthcare environments. Rooted in systems theory, ergonomics, and information systems research, HCD prioritizes the needs, capabilities, and limitations of diverse user groups – including patients, clinicians, and caregivers – throughout the design and implementation process. This review synthesizes current applications of HCD in four key domains: brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), artificial intelligence (AI)-based clinical decision support systems AI-CDSS, and mobile health (mHealth) technologies. It explores design frameworks, usability strategies, and models of human-technology collaboration that contribute to successful adoption and sustained use. Ethical and legal considerations – such as data privacy, informed consent, and algorithmic fairness – are also addressed, particularly in contexts involving biometric and neurophysiological data. While HCD practices have shown substantial potential to improve digital health outcomes, their implementation remains uneven across technologies and settings. Emerging trends, including adaptive personalization, explainable AI, and participatory co-design, are identified as promising directions for the development of more inclusive, trustworthy, and sustainable digital health innovations.
Author: [‘Tzimourta KD’]
Journal: Cureus
Citation: Tzimourta KD. Human-Centered Design and Development in Digital Health: Approaches, Challenges, and Emerging Trends. Human-Centered Design and Development in Digital Health: Approaches, Challenges, and Emerging Trends. 2025; 17:e85897. doi: 10.7759/cureus.85897