Patient-Centered E-Health Design

This chapter introduces a series of techniques and tools useful for developing patient-centered e-health. As information technology (IT) is revolutionizing health care delivery, a wide range of personal health information management tools have become available to the patients. The variety and quality of information delivered by these tools will determine how useful consumers find them. Equally important is how the information is delivered. To create quality e-health, designers must attend to the needs and wants of users by engaging them in the design and testing processes. User-centered design (UCD) is a formal approach to ensuring that new products address the needs, wants, skills, and preferences of the user throughout the tool’s development. UCD is a design and evaluation process which pays special attention to the intended users, what they will do with the product, where they will use it, and what features they consider essential. This iterative approach ensures that users’ needs and wants are met and ultimately increases the likelihood users will accept the final product. This chapter focuses on UCD methods and techniques, giving examples of how to use them and when.