Maximizing UX Value For Digital Health Apps

Small details add up. When building your user interface (UI), your design team should consider every little thing that could make a difference to the overall value of your project.

This is especially true for developing digital health apps, owing to their inherent complexity. Such apps frequently have to interface with compliance software, present information in an intuitive format, and cater to the needs of several different types of users.

When less than 6% of apps are still used a week after being downloaded, user experience (UX) is more important than ever before. In many cases, users simply move on to a different product that has similar functionality but a more intuitive interface.

Fortunately, a smart development team will be able to maximize the value of the UX by carefully considering the entire project: from the first stages of user research, to choosing the right tech stack, to iterating and refining, and more.

General Value Enhancements

The user interface sits on top of a larger tech stack, but can’t be completely separated from it. The frontend is always integrated with the backend.

Therefore one of the most important ways to increase the value of the user experience is through general value enhancements throughout the tech stack as a whole.

Developers should carefully choose libraries and components with the user interface in mind. In theory, you could build functionally the same application with multiple different systems. In practice, some tools will be more or less suited to the task at hand. You will always need to tweak and adjust the UI over time, so it is best to choose libraries and components that have a high degree of flexibility, and can be modified to suit future needs.

When you look at some of the most widely used frontend tools, they are often popular because they have these qualities. React, for example, is based on a modular system of UI components that allows for easy retooling over time.

Keep in mind the overall cost of the tech stack that you choose. This does not just mean the amount of dollars spent to use the technology. Every tool a developer uses comes with a certain amount of intangible costs as well:

• Lack of community resources can make a huge difference. Older, more established tools often have a larger community and a greater wealth of resources to help when problems arise. Younger, more niche systems often have a smaller community and less documentation.
• Training and discovery time is another major cost. If the development team is already adept at using a tool, this can save them a lot of time. New or complicated tools will take more time to master.
• Compatibility with other systems matters too, depending on the nature of the project. If the application will use specific niche technologies like AI or Blockchain, make sure that it will be easy to integrate them into your tech stack.

Finally, choose a smart architecture for the product. Designing a good UX architecture is all about the high level structure of the project: navigation, user flows, and accessibility. Designing good architecture for the project as a whole means structuring the entire application so that the backend can seamlessly integrate with the UX architecture.

Doing UX Research Right

The user interface is about more than just functioning properly. It also has to match the psychology of the user.

This is why UX research should begin long before anyone writes a single line of code. You want to have a solid understanding of how your users will actually want to use your application, and what sorts of approaches would lead instead to confusion or irritation.

UX research is really an art and a science unto itself. No single technique is perfect. Instead, a good researcher will typically integrate several different methodologies to come up with a good understanding of the users and their preferences. These techniques include:

• Surveys and questionnaires
• Focus groups
• Eye-tracking studies
• A/B Testing

Good UX research combines quantitative and qualitative information to gain an accurate assessment of user preferences and behavior. Over reliance on one or the other can lead to a lopsided or inaccurate picture of user behavior.

Good UX research is also iterative, in that it makes repeated refinements about its results over time. Preliminary research leads to creating wireframe models, which leads to progressively more refined prototypes, until developers have a clear picture of the application they want to build.

Finally, good UX research focuses on the needs and preferences of the users themselves. This point is obvious but easily overlooked. Developers can’t be overly focused on how easy the interface would be to develop, or whether they personally like the design. At the end of the day, it is the user’s opinion that matters.

Common Pitfalls When Doing UX Research

Understanding your users’ behaviors and preferences is a very subtle business. Many of their actions are unconscious, and guided by an intuitive sense of how applications should work.

Think of any time you used a poorly designed software product. You could probably feel it immediately, even if you couldn’t articulate precisely what was wrong with it. On the other hand, a user interface that is designed well is often completely unnoticed.

One research mistake is over relying on one type or piece of data. Researchers need to create a holistic picture of how users operate, and no single fact or model will do that.

Another mistake is only considering one type of user. Most software products will actually be used by multiple different types of users, each with slightly different behaviors. Researchers should strive to distinguish them, and create detailed user personas for each.

Be careful to avoid following fads and jumping on bandwagons. Researchers need to gain a clear, accurate picture of their users, without being colored or distorted by whatever theory happens to be popular at the moment.

Conclusion

Although the user interface is technically just the front facing part of an application, maximizing the value of the UX takes the entire project into account. Developers should be keen to perform good user research and choose technologies appropriately.

In the crowded digital health app marketplace, having a great user interface is often one of the best, and only, ways to stand out. If you want your app to succeed, you should go the extra mile when designing your UX.

Do you need a healthcare related mobile or web app? ActiveColor is a leader in digital app development that specializes in digital health. Talk to us today!