A review of multiple user center design methods for new product development in smart and connected health applications

Evidences across industries including telecommunication, retail and trading, suggests many benefits are to be gained from automation. To obtain these benefits in the field of healthcare, there have been vast amount of studies conducted on utilization of technological capabilities during the past few decades. From medical information systems to Telemedicine to ubiquitous computing, smart and connected health applications are designed to have a positive impact on current and future health care practices. While there have been a lot of successful innovations in these applications, there have also been a lot of failure. Study of these applications highlights the importance of user involvements from the very early stage of new product development. This paper utilizes the categories identified in Smart and Connected Health (SCH) terminology recognized by National Science Foundation (NSF) to conduct a holistic study of different technological applications developed for healthcare to identify major barriers inhibiting their diffusion. The User Centered Design (UCD) methodologies proven valuable in industrial contexts are reviewed to highlight their characteristics and capabilities to facilitate user involvement. It references cases where they have been valuable toolkits to address barriers recognized. Finally, the study categorizes the major barriers captured throughout the study and recommends best user centered design(s) approaches to be deployed for superior front-end management of healthcare solution innovation.