Workflow Mindset in a Digitally Driven World

In 2019 I gave a talk to a group of engineers and surgeons at USCF innovations team entitled “Workflow Mindset in a Fast Paced Digital World”. The goal of this talk was to begin introducing engineers and surgical teams to the importance of understanding each other’s daily workflow in the design of digitally enabled platforms. This topic is even more important today during the pandemic; where remote work and learning are a necessity to move forward.

The premise of the talk is the following.

Technology is exponentially changing how we learn, work and what we can do.

“Currently our computing power and sensor capabilities are starting to quantify cellular and molecular structures easily and cheaply, and our tools are able to manipulate molecules. Today small companies are creating the paradigm changes that were the domain of larger corporations, universities and government agencies” (http://www.theemergingfuture.com/)”

Developing new technology for the Medical industry can take significant time. There are strict rules and regulations that must be followed. You can build your teams with the top talent, bring in top medical advisors, and define smart strategies to try to speed things to market. The pace car is always quality, performance and safety. So, how do we speed up the process without taking on unnecessary risk?

One Answer: By shortening needs finding timelines for iterative designs.

Once a device is launched, feedback from the field is often collected too inefficiently to be effective. The information does not make it back to the designers fast enough. Product designers are busy working on the next product. Medical professionals are busy saving lives.

Your sales, service, marketing, or clinical engineering team likely collect product feedback as part of their role. But they are not the ones using the device first hand. Attending 100’s of cases in person takes a very long time, as does interpreting the data. And there is always conscious and unconscious bias in the loop. I am in no way talking myself and my colleagues out of a job! I’m just merely commenting that in today’s world we may be underutilizing a powerful tool.

What if we use data platforms to help?

Many companies are partnering with data platform companies or coming up with their own homegrown versions to collect data. But I would argue that just like good design, you cannot add these tools on after the fact. Collecting the data is only part of the process. The data you collect, how it is collected, how it is processed and ultimately how it is understood and used is what counts. Whether third party or homegrown, digital platforms need to be an integral part of your long term product vision and likely part of the product itself. And they need to fit into the workflow of not only medical practice, but also product design.

So I will leave you with following to think about:

Are we as product designers collecting and processing data smartly? Have we as businesses thought through our end to end strategies far enough to capture this crucial part of our product vision? Are we as customers open to sharing data with companies about our medical practice to make the right products? And ultimately do we understand the workflow of each other’s worlds enough to know what data is valuable and what data is just more numbers? Can we create a process, a creative space, and a combination of the workflows of our two worlds, Industry and Patient care, where we can co-create?

If we can, we may be able to orchestrate the perfect process for iterative design. A process that is not only faster, but co-defined to make better and more innovative products.

If you are interested in talking more about this topic contact: k2a2consulting@gmail.com