Rosenverse

Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.

Log in Create free account

100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.

Designing for Wellness: Specializing in Healthcare
Wednesday, May 22, 2024 • Rosenfeld Community
Share the love for this talk
Designing for Wellness: Specializing in Healthcare
Speakers: Theresa Neil
Link:

Summary

Have you thought about applying your research and design expertise to a specific vertical? Healthcare offers rich, complex challenges and thorny psychology problems, in the midst of a highly regulated industry that desperately needs design experts. Wearables, IoT, AI/ML/LLM, AR, VR, robot nurses, healthcare is anything but boring. Theresa Neil will share a birds-eye view of the healthtech, medtech, femtech ecosystem and where she sees opportunities for practitioners like us. You can start in the shallow end with health & wellness apps and eventually swim with the sharks building regulated medical devices (with lasers)!

Key Insights

  • Theresa Neil shifted her consultancy idea from a broad UX practice to specializing in healthcare over the past two years.

  • Healthcare technology is growing rapidly with a projected $1.6 trillion market value by 2033 and 20% CAGR.

  • Vertical specialization, even by 'faking it till you make it', is a viable strategy but Theresa preferred leveraging her existing healthcare portfolio.

  • Healthcare UX challenges are complex, involving multiple stakeholders like patients, providers, payers, and regulators.

  • The healthcare ecosystem’s complexity allows specialized UX designers to charge premium rates.

  • There are distinct tiers of healthcare products from unregulated wellness apps to highly regulated medical devices requiring knowledge of HIPAA and FDA compliance.

  • Hands-on experience with regulated healthcare software and devices is critical; bluffing expertise is easily detected and harmful.

  • Designers in healthcare commonly collaborate closely with clinical subject matter experts rather than needing clinical degrees themselves.

  • Healthcare technology includes cutting-edge fields such as AI, connected devices, VR, AR, robotics, and innovative drug delivery systems.

  • Starting in lower complexity healthcare domains like consumer health websites or wellness apps eases entry before moving into stringent regulated areas.

Notable Quotes

"We were doing all the things until we got the advice to specialize; that moment changed everything."

"We could become healthcare experts because we actually did have a portfolio in healthcare already."

"Experts develop insights by isolating patterns and data; as designers, we already do this daily."

"Healthcare technology is absolutely a growing market with tremendous opportunity."

"Preventative care UX challenges, like why men won’t come in, are deeply rooted and not solved by prettier buttons."

"You aren't going to understand the healthcare ecosystem right off the bat; it’s incredibly complex."

"EMRs and EHRs have terrible user experience and are ripe for design innovation, similar to FinTech years ago."

"Don’t bluff regulated healthcare UX experience; everyone will know, and it’s harmful to your team and clients."

"Designers almost always partner with clinicians who are the domain experts in healthcare projects."

"You don’t need an MD or PhD to be effective in healthcare UX; humility, curiosity, and preparation are essential."

Ask the Rosenbot
Joseph Williams
Unlocking impact and influence through inclusive hiring in research
2021 • Advancing Research Community
Sarah Barrett
The "How" of Enterprise Information Architecture
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Patrick Boehler
Fishing for Real Needs: Reimagining Journalism Needs with AI
2025 • Designing with AI 2025
Gold
John Cutler
The Alignment Trap
2023 • Design in Product 2023
Gold
Rachael Dietkus, LCSW
AI: Passionate defenses and reasoned critique [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
2024 • Advancing Research Community
Louis Rosenfeld
GenAI for UXers: A Rosenbot Demo and Discussion
2025 • Designing with AI 2025
Gold
Séamus Byrne
Aligning Teams with Choreography
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Christopher Taylor Edwards
Design as a Team Practice, A Practical Guide to Cross-functional Collaboration
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Ovetta Sampson
Turning UX Passion into Real Product Influence
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Renee Bouwens
Landing Product Impact: Aligning Research as a Foundational Driver for Delivering the World’s Best Products
2023 • QuantQual Interest Group
Sam Proulx
Understanding Screen Readers on Mobile: How And Why to Learn from Native Users
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Mujtaba Hameed
Frameworks for Excellence: Using Visual Thinking and Communication to Elevate Your Research
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Daniel Orbach
Zero to One: Co-Creating Operating Models with your Team
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Iain McMaster
Design and Product: from Frenemy to Harmony
2023 • Design in Product 2023
Gold
Lisa Gironda
Opener: Chief of Staff–An unexpected journey
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold

More Videos

Sam Proulx

"The System Usability Scale’s question about needing a technical person to use the system is confusing and inaccurate for screen reader users."

Sam Proulx

SUS: A System Unusable for Twenty Percent of the Population

December 9, 2021

Michael Land

"You don’t want so much governance that people can’t be creative, but you need just enough to help their process."

Michael Land

Establishing Design Operations in Government

February 18, 2021

Shipra Kayan

"VOC wasn’t a replacement for user research, but an enhancer that captured nuggets researchers might miss during discovery."

Shipra Kayan

How we Built a VoC (Voice of the Customer) Practice at Upwork from the Ground Up

September 30, 2021

Ian Swinson

"If you’re amazing at your job but no one listens to your research or design, does it really have impact?"

Ian Swinson

Designing and Driving UX Careers

June 8, 2016

Isaac Heyveld

"Communication is an integral part of the chief of staff role, whether with leadership, the org, or partners."

Isaac Heyveld

Expand DesignOps Leadership as a Chief of Staff

September 8, 2022

Amy Evans

"Starting with one line of business and showing success creates a trickle effect for broader organizational adoption."

Amy Evans

How to Create Change

September 25, 2024

Kate Koch

"Design ops is undergoing a transformation into a CX focused team with a refined mission to drive efficiency and customer experience excellence."

Kate Koch Prateek Kalli

Flex Your Super Powers: When a Design Ops Team Scales to Power CX

September 30, 2021

Dave Gray

"Change only happens in the present moment, not the past or future."

Dave Gray

Liminal Thinking: Sense-making for systems in large organizations

May 14, 2015

Matt Duignan

"Durable insights can emerge organically based on usage and referencing patterns in the system."

Matt Duignan

Atomizing Research: Trend or Trap

March 30, 2020