Previously submitted to: JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting (no longer under consideration since Feb 10, 2025)
Date Submitted: Nov 6, 2024
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Empowerment through co-creation: A living lab using user-experience design as a platform for patient-oriented medical technologies
ABSTRACT
Background:
Empowering patients and recipients of mHealth technologies in the design and innovation process is a crucial element supporting research and development (R&D), as it increases the likelihood of successful implementation.
Objective:
This study aims to evaluate the potential of living lab methodology combined with user-centered design and methods used in User Experience (UX) to involve users of mHealth technology in the design process.
Methods:
Our case study focused on a device designed to monitor vital signs in newborns, addressing the need for early detection of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and continuous tracking of health parameters, including breathing movements, heart rate, blood oxygenation, and temperature. Living lab methodology was implemented through two workshops. The research sample consisted of one man and five women, all of whom are parents of children aged 3 to 17.
Results:
During the workshops, we explored the emotional and cognitive experiences of parents confronting the concept of SIDS. This exploration revealed the complex and multifaceted ways in which parents process the fear and anxiety associated with the potential loss of an infant, as well as their attitudes toward preventative measures. We also examined how parents perceive devices designed to reduce the risk of SIDS. Our findings highlighted parents' diverse opinions regarding these technologies, including their perceived reliability, usability, and the degree of trust they place in these devices to safeguard their children.
Conclusions:
Combining living lab methodology with user-centered design (focused on functionality and usability) and UX methods (concentrated on experience and emotions) can significantly enhance the design process for mHealth innovations. First, this approach enables the incorporation of patients' perspectives into the design of innovations while confronting them with the limitations and capabilities of the technology itself. Second, it provides insights into the values and emotions of new parents, which can decisively impact the need for and extent of use of the innovation. Third, it creates a platform for the exchange of knowledge and perspectives between users and developers
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.