A New Method for Structured Integration of User Needs in Two Health Technology Development Projects: Action Sheets.

Area of Science:

• Health Technology Innovation
• User-Centered Design
• Patient Engagement

Background:

• Integrating user needs is crucial for successful innovation, but challenging with chronic disease patients who struggle to articulate technical requirements.
• Existing methods often fail to bridge the gap between user needs and developer understanding, hindering effective technology development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate Action Sheets (AS) as a tool to translate user needs into actionable technical requirements.
• To demonstrate the application of AS in developing health technologies for cancer (INFOPAT) and dementia (QuartrBack) patients.

Main Methods:

• Conducted focus groups and world cafés with diverse stakeholders, including patients, healthcare professionals, and citizens.
• Utilized Action Sheets (AS) to capture and translate identified user and stakeholder needs into technical specifications.
• Applied AS in two distinct health technology development projects: INFOPAT and QuartrBack.

Main Results:

• Action Sheets (AS) proved effective in making user needs, particularly those based on social values, more tangible and implementable.
• A four-phase process was identified as necessary for effectively transferring user needs into AS, facilitating translation from non-technical to technical requirements.
• Successful integration of user needs was achieved, though context-sensitive adjustments remain essential.

Conclusions:

• Action Sheets (AS) are a promising tool for enhancing user and stakeholder integration in health technology development.
• The AS methodology aids in translating complex, non-technical user requirements into technically feasible solutions.
• Context-specific adaptations are vital for maximizing the success of user-centered technology development.