Hey there, from the future, I’m writing this in the year 2020. Not gonna lie, it’s been a sad, sad year, but somehow we continue to go on and work towards a better world. In the face of this pandemic, we’ve been forced to automate most of our daily activities and remotely access every necessary service that sustains human life. Healthcare is one of them.
Although apps and websites were already available to seek medical advice as early as 2010, the everyday man never trusted an app or a Google search to solve his illness. This year of social distancing has given a push to traditional healthcare to move online. If you’re out there building an app within this domain, this blog is for you. We have listed down 5 tips that can come in handy while designing an app for the health tech sector.
1. A Purpose-Driven Easy to Use Interface
In the case of any healthcare app, the user base can be a patient, a doctor, or even another user who is just making an appointment for the doctor by using the product. So, try and be straightforward in your approach, and avoid unnecessary add-ons. And always make important information and actions easily accessible. It seems like self-evident advice, right? While designing an app like this, it is very easy to feel the itch to add that one sweet but unnecessary feature. Make sure you properly evaluate your ideas before you pile on to an already overwhelming app.
2. The Importance of Records
Healthcare thrives on medical records; they are very crucial and must be easily accessible. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure their privacy is intact and is only accessible by the respective patient and the appointed doctor. These records hold legal importance and are also useful in medical diagnoses that can save lives.
3. The Use of Colors
We use color not only to direct users or “make it pop,” but we also use colors to set a tone, an emotion that needs to communicate a safe place where help can be found. Cool colors like shades of blue, green, and white are most commonly found inside hospitals and clinics. If your focus is on mental health, then some calming colors like green, blue, and sometimes orange and yellow to depict happiness.
4. The Fear of Misinterpretation
This one’s simple, you know when an icon felt like it meant something, but it meant something else, and you go “Aah, that makes more sense” You can’t have those eureka moments here. The icons or symbols need to be carefully chosen after A/B testing with the target users at an early stage of the design. Use images that make sense to guide the users. Attaching labels with icons can also be a safe option.
5. Quality Control
To ensure the users that they are in a safe place, always vet any information you display. Ensure that including features like measuring the heartbeat should be accurate; otherwise, the best option would be to skip. To maintain credibility and gain your user’s trust, only allow licensed professionals to sign up for your platform or product. And of course, make sure you abide by the laws in your country, and ensure that your users do the same.
Apart from these, just have a calming tone to the UI and use content that is easy to access and understand. Healthcare is our catalyst for a healthier tomorrow and well-designed digital platforms can help us reach them faster. This makes UX not just another element but a crucial one to gain the trust of patients. Let us know if you have any tips in the comment section, and we would be happy to discuss them with you.
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