Human-Centered Design and Digital Transformation of Mental Health Services

Mental health services face a multitude of challenges, such as increasing demand, underfunding, and limited workforce capacity. The accelerated digital transformation of public services is positioned by government, the private sector, and some academic researchers as the solution. Alongside this, human-centered design has emerged as a guiding paradigm for this transformation to ensure user needs are met. We define what digital transformation and human-centered design are, how they are implemented in the UK policy context, and their role within the evolving delivery of mental health services. The involvement of one of our coauthors (DP) in the design and delivery of these policies over the past 5 years provides unique insights into the decision-making process and policy story. We review the promises, pitfalls, and ongoing challenges identified across a multidisciplinary literature. Finally, we propose future research questions and policy options to ensure that services are designed and delivered to meet the mental health needs of the population.