Designing digital health services:
9 essentials
Today, designing great health services calls for putting people at the centre of design. This is human-centred design. It also means understanding the realities of the Australian health system and the people who use it.
We’ve defined nine essentials for applying human-centred design in this context.
At its core, human-centred design means putting people first. It’s guided by four key principles:
Be people centred
Understand and solve the right problems
Look at the whole system
Small and simple iterations
We’ve applied these principles across a wide range of services, from cancer care and chronic condition management to tools for staff, care workers, and people with disability. No matter the audience or the interface, the foundations of good design remain the same.
1.Co-design with every day Australians
Key principle: Be people-centred
Whether your health service is for Australian health consumers or staff, bring in people with disabilities, people from non-English speaking backgrounds, and people from remote areas, to co-design with. These groups are not edge cases, they are your users. Nearly 25% of Australians fall into one or more of these groups. Involve them at the beginning to help define the problem. Get their feedback early on ideas, rough sketches, decision flows. The sooner you test, the sooner you can spot friction, confusion, or unintended barriers. You'll always learn something new when looking at your product from a fresh perspective.
Ask
How can we involve a cross section of diverse groups of people? Does our audience include Indigenous Australians?
What unique needs must we cater to?
How can we create a pool of health consumers to involve in design throughout the project?
2. Create an accessibility strategy
Key principle: Be people-centred
An accessibility strategy proactively defines how your product or service will be accessible by your specific audience group/s. It goes beyond just choosing the level of web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) you wish to reach. It helps you really think about the context of the users of your product or service. It assigns ownership of ensuring accessibility to research, content, design and dev teams.
Ask
What permanent, temporary or situational needs of our users? What is their level of digital or health literacy?
Do we have the skills and resources to design and code accessibly?
Will we aim for WCAG level double AA or triple AAA or a blend?
3. Help people navigate your service
Key principle: Be people-centred
Most people don’t understand the health system. It’s complex and confusing. The difference between public and private care, and how it affects cost is baffling. People don’t know how your organisation works, what forms are needed, which department they’re dealing with or what they are signing up for.
And they shouldn’t have to. But when understanding is necessary, make it easy. Help them navigate with confidence.
Ask
Do we welcome and guide people when they interact with us?
Do we explain simply, what people need to know about our service?
What design patterns can we use that are familiar for health consumers?
4. Foster health literacy
Key principle: Be people-centred
Up to 95% of health information is too complex for people to understand. Health literacy is about making information understandable, relevant, and actionable for everyone. That includes content, forms, visuals, and even conversations with staff. It also means creating a culture where clear communication is part of every interaction.
Ask
Are we boosting knowledge and understanding throughout the experience?
Is our information reduced to only what is necessary?
Does our service have a mechanism to check that consumers understand?
5. Solve the right problem
Key principle: Understand and solve the right problem
Health services exists in a complex ecosystem. Often we are briefed to solve a problem, only to discover that it is a symptom not a cause. Root cause analysis, and problem definition workshops help to determine the right problem to solve. Put simply, don't redesign the menu when the food is bad.
Ask
What do we know and what are we assuming?
What are the symptoms and what are the problems?
Do we know where the friction in our consumers journey is?
6. Consumers are the single patient record
Key principle: Look at the whole system
In the absence of a single digital patient record for Australian health consumers, recognise and respect that the health consumer IS the medical health record. They are wrangling, herding and keeping track of reports, summaries and documents stored in many different places often across apps, inboxes, folders, and paper printouts. Make it easy for people to access their records, track their care journey, and avoid repeating themselves.
Ask
How can we make it easy for people to access and store their own records?
What format(s) do people prefer—PDF, email, text message, app?
Can records be shareable with carers, family members, or other providers?
7. Integrate where possible
Key principle: Look at the whole system
People are accessing multiple providers and using multiple channels for one or more health events. They might be seeing specialists and using aged care services and the public system all at once. Design your service to be part of a broader health journey, not a standalone touchpoint. Think beyond your service.
Ask
What systems or services do our users interact with before and after us?
Where can we streamline or eliminate repetitive steps (e.g. double data entry)?
Can we integrate data or services to reduce confusion or handoff friction?
8. Iterate inclusively
Key principle: Small and simple iterations
When you include diverse people and perspectives in iterations, you solve problems before they are baked into the product or service. It's much cheaper to solve these problems upfront. As soon as screens are sketched and words are written, you can start checking usability and accessibility.
Ask
Are we getting breadth of perspective in early design work?
Are we addressing accessibility proactively or retrospectively?
Are we making small iterations and learning (pebbles, not boulders)?
9. Establish a design system
Key principle: Small and simple iterations
Good design systems enable faster iteration. A design system refers to how a team works with a shared set of UI components, from design to development. These components become a reusable and robust set of building blocks that can be used to rapidly prototype and build digital experiences. Consistency creates a simpler experience for health consumers, and builds trust.
Ask
Are all team members able to prototype and build?
Does the team have a clear workflow for using, growing and maintaining your design system?
What's the process for ensuring component quality, usability and accessibility?
If you’ve factored in these principles, you’re on track to create a service that’s not only usable and accessible, but genuinely valuable to both your organisation and the people it serves. If you need help with any, or all of these, get in touch.