I ’m an Engineer, But I Can’t Fix Stupid

“You can’t fix stupid,” a phrase I’ve heard engineers use about consumers, can and should be applied to medical device companies that refuse to adapt to customer needs. Consumers lead enterprise, and healthcare must start thinking like the consumer-oriented market we are becoming and develop products that are stupid simple to use. Some of us are regular consumers of the healthcare system, but more often than not, most people, especially younger generations, have infrequent interactions with the healthcare system because they don’t have to make significant decisions related to their well-being. As this group ages, many factors will impact healthcare consumption and force a change in the space. As the patient empowerment movement mounts, tech giants enter the industry, and value-based care practices are developed, we’ll embark on a new and high-growth period in healthcare. And now as I look back, I realize I've been fortunate to be involved in industries during a similar stage of change and growth. In the 1980s, I was involved with leading-edge work in aircraft and computer simulations. In the ‘90s, I worked on the Internet at the beginning of the “WWW” and in Internet security when viruses just started making headlines. Perhaps most relevant is my time in the mobile device space during the Blackberry era in the early 2000s, when I tried to convince a major airline to make ticketing easier for customers by having a check-in option via a mobile app. I was told...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Design Source Type: news