The value of visible work: Operational transparency in digital healthcare interfaces

This study investigates how operational transparency ("labor illusion") in digital healthcare interfaces shapes patient experience. Two within-subjects experiments using simulated patient portals compared real-time process displays with immediate results and with pre-process information. Across both studies, patients preferred interfaces showing laboratory analyses in progress, even when waiting was required. This persistence, even with advance information, suggests transparency adds value beyond uncertainty reduction. Results highlight timing as a boundary condition for transparency's impact and indicate that real-time observation provides both informational reassurance and experiential engagement. By enhancing patient experience, operational transparency may foster trust, satisfaction, and engagement-outcomes central to health marketing. For providers and marketers, transparency can be framed as both a design feature and a strategic tool to increase portal adoption, patient loyalty, and long-term engagement. The research extends operational transparency theory to digital healthcare and offers guidance for patient-centered platform design.