Last month, I was clearing my inbox. In the process, I came across McCann’s Breath of Life.
The campaign leveraged WeChat and repurposed the technology to help people access medical diagnostic tools.
A few days ago, I recollected the campaign mainly because it had some eye-catching design and details that are not to be missed. Most importantly, it blended design with functionality, makes you sit up and notice, and offers a unique user experience.
In a similar vein, the Meiji-Dentsu collab for creating a spectacular design exhibition on the immune system also spoke volumes to the passersby.
These campaigns are great in terms of aesthetics, that’s for sure. But what about putting the users, customers, or patients at the center of the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry is the ask. How do they leverage design thinking in healthcare to enhance patient-centricity? What are the ways they can increase satisfaction for the patients?
Here are our two cents:
Simplified Portals are the Way Forward
Navigating through healthcare or pharmaceutical websites can be a nightmare at times. By empathizing with the users, you can pave the way to patient-centricity and serve them better. For this, the ask is to go for a human-centered healthcare or pharma design approach.
Post-pandemic, we saw vaccine portals that were glitchy with a blatant lack of empathy. Instead, what they needed was a simple portal with all the information on their fingertips, including all the patient history (while being HIPAA compliant) and a seamless booking experience.
Steps like this across healthcare facilities make patients and their caregivers feel valued. And good design is at the core of it all.
As Don Norman puts it, “Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible.”
Regaining Trust is Paramount
As the world gets back on its feet in the post-pandemic era, trust is the deciding factor for patients.
Healthcare and pharma companies need to win the confidence of the patients with products, services, and communication that match expectations. At the same time, it is also important for them to connect with them by solidifying the user experience while keeping the user behaviors in mind.
Put yourself in your patients’ shoes. Distressed by the health conditions of a family member or themselves, they would want a quick resolution right on the spot. Faster decisions will improve the experience for them greatly, which can be aided with the right UI UX design across your interfaces.
Patient as Partner
Healthcare and pharmaceutical firms are plagued by several challenges, which include but are not limited to:
- Stricter regulations
- Shortage of skilled labor force
- Rising costs of operations
- Rapid development of new drugs
- Patent expirations
But then, good design solves problems. It combines both user needs and business strategy and puts users in the driver’s seat.
With the digitization of healthcare and pharma sectors along with people actively taking in charge of their health, there are an endless number of apps that are only increasing by the day. This overwhelming choice of apps also means that the end-users weigh their options. Add to this changing attitude towards app adoption and data privacy concerns.
This is where you need to make patients your partner as you work on pharma and healthcare design.
Understand their core needs, trial concepts, test out various features, create functionalities based on their journey, allow them to leave feedback, and that too frequently. This will help you leverage the data and create innovative solutions that reap profits.
Conclusion
The healthcare and pharmaceutical industry will be in the spotlight for some time. There needs to be a significant shift to adapt to the latest processes combining technology and design. What worked in the past, may not work tomorrow. It is all about delivering on the promise and increasing efficiencies by seizing the opportunities across user experience in healthcare.
Generate effective results across the healthcare and pharma industries. Connect with us to take your firm to the next step with outstanding UI UX design and development.
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