UX in Medical Technology: Products that make a difference in clinical practice
UX in Medical Technology: Products that make a difference in clinical practice
UX in Medical Technology (Medical UX) encompasses the human-centered design of medical devices, clinical software, and user interfaces for medical professionals. Unlike UX in other industries, poor design here has direct impacts on the quality of care. Splore collaborates with medical technology companies to explore how clinical workflows can be made safer and more efficient through human-centered design, from early needs analysis with clinical professionals to solution validation with users.
What is Medical UX, and why does it require specialized expertise?
Medical UX is the application of human-centered design methods to medical products and clinical systems. It focuses on the work realities of doctors, nurses, and medical-technical professionals, as well as the experiences of patients who interact with these systems.
What distinguishes Medical UX from UX work in other industries is the consequence of poor design: A difficult-to-use booking system frustrates. A difficult-to-use clinical system endangers the quality of care. This distinction shapes the entire methodological approach, from the depth of user research to the regulatory requirements of the design process. This is most tangible in the example of angiography: Cardiologists can better focus on the procedure and patient care when the clinical system supports them optimally — and is intuitive and easy to use.
Medical technology companies face a particular challenge. Their products must meet regulatory requirements, such as IEC 62366 for Usability Engineering or the MDR (Medical Device Regulation) for market approval in Europe. At the same time, these products must fit into highly complex workflows and be operable without error under time pressure.
The information density in the clinical environment is steadily increasing, driven by the growing digitization of clinical processes: laboratory values, imaging data, patient histories, treatment protocols. Every additional feature that is not aligned with the actual workflows in everyday care increases the cognitive load on professionals instead of reducing it. UX Design in medical technology therefore means not more functions, but the right information at the right time in the right place.
As a UX agency for B2B companies with a focus on complex products in regulated industries, Splore brings together the necessary disciplines: User Research in the clinical context, Interaction Design, Interface Design, and UX conception. These disciplines do not work sequentially with us, but accompany the project, because a medical device only convinces if it solves the right problems for users and translates these insights into concrete interaction and interface concepts.
Our approach follows a clear principle that we call Desirability-First: First understand what professionals actually need in everyday care. Then check whether and how a technical solution addresses this need. Then evaluate economically. This sequence is the prerequisite for products to not only function technically in clinical practice but also to be actually used.
User Experience in medicine is thus not a downstream design step. It is an integral part of product development that determines whether a medical device facilitates or hinders the work of clinical professionals, and whether it establishes itself in the market from a company perspective because it creates real value for users.
Why UX in Medical Technology is a Strategic Tool
Why UX in Medical Technology is a Strategic Tool
In many medical technology companies, UX is treated as an operational supplier discipline: Product management defines the requirements, development builds, and at the end, someone takes care of the interface. This sequence is common, but it has a blind spot. The question of whether the product is actually accepted in everyday care is only asked by the market.
The strategic function of UX is to bring this question forward to the development decision.
Before a company invests in development, it can be checked whether the planned functionality fits the real workflows in clinical practice. Whether professionals perceive the solution as a relief or as additional complexity. And whether the intended technology, such as an AI-based assistance system, even enjoys trust in daily practice. At Splore, we call this Derisking Development: risk minimization through early validation with the people who will later use the product. Jona Rammler, founder of Splore and co-author of publications on UX design in the clinical context, has sharpened this principle in collaboration with medical technology manufacturers, including in the podcast Behind the Screens, where the strategic role of UX in product development is a recurring theme.
In medical technology, this preliminary examination weighs particularly heavily. Adjustments to an approved medical product are complex, expensive, and regulatory complex. Those who only realize after approval that the operating concept does not fit the clinical workflow not only lose budget but also acceptance among professionals.
Clinical professionals have little tolerance for systems that disrupt workflow. If a system is perceived as a slowdown, it will be bypassed — no matter how powerful the technology. UX ensures acceptance by making the actual needs of professionals the starting point, not the assumptions of product management.
The cognitive load in everyday care increases with every new data source, every system, every feature. UX in medical technology reduces this complexity: preparing information in layers, simplifying processes, creating visual hierarchies that work under time pressure. This does not mean less functionality — it means clearer prioritization.
IEC 62366 requires Usability Engineering for medical products as a prerequisite for market approval. Companies that integrate UX early meet this requirement as a natural part of their approach — instead of as a subsequent documentation exercise. This saves time, reduces rework, and strengthens the regulatory argumentation with notified bodies.
The difference between UX as subsequent cosmetics and UX as a strategic instance is the difference between symptom treatment and risk management. Splore supports medical technology companies in anchoring UX at the strategic level — where product decisions are made.
How Splore Works Specifically in Medical Technology
Every Medical UX project at Splore begins with a question that no data sheet can answer: What does the everyday work of the people who will operate this product look like? What happens in the first thirty seconds after someone enters the room? What information is needed immediately, what can wait?
Discovery: Going Where the Work Happens
To find this out, we go where the work happens. Shadowing medical professionals and nurses during real treatment situations, interviews at the systems that are operated daily, observation of shift changes and critical decision moments. These steps are not optional extras but the foundation of all further decisions. We do not develop for clinics, but with clinical professionals.
Splore works with medical technology manufacturers — including Siemens Healthineers — on questions such as: What does the future of specialized clinical workflows look like? How can novel AI assistance systems be integrated into existing processes? And what does the future of interaction with imaging therapy systems look like?
Conception and Prototyping: Making Ideas Testable
From the research results, we develop concepts and make them testable through prototypes before a line of production code is written. Whether as a click dummy for a new user interface or as a simulated scenario for a clinical process: What matters is that professionals can evaluate the draft before it goes into development.
What distinguishes Splore: Even during user interviews, we work with concept sketches as stimuli. In the design phase, UX designs are created, rendered so concretely in the usage context that treatment teams can provide feedback and stakeholders can make informed decisions.
Testing and Validation: Iteration with the Right People
Iterative testing with clinical professionals ensures that design decisions are not based on internal assumptions but on observed behavior. We test prototypes in realistic scenarios: time pressure, data flood, changing attention. The results flow directly into the next design iteration.
Our workflows consider usability requirements, so customers can use the results of our testing as a basis for their own usability documentation according to IEC 62366. The formal validation and regulatory evidence remains with the manufacturer.
Integration: Handover to Development and Regulatory Affairs
At the end of a Splore project are documented design specifications, validated prototypes, and research results that flow directly into development. Our customers can use these results for their regulatory documentation, with product responsibility and liability always remaining with the manufacturer. If desired, we accompany the implementation as a UX sparring partner over several months.
Our teams bundle competencies from User Research, Interaction Design, and Interface Design. In medical technology projects, these disciplines work closely with other departments such as industrial design and usability engineering, which are often covered on the customer side or by specialized partners. A product can only be assessed in the interplay of all perspectives.
Are you planning a specific project in the medical technology field and wondering where the right entry point is? Write to us briefly at hello@splore.de. We will get back to you with an initial assessment.
Application Areas for UX Design in Medical Technology
Medical UX is not a uniform field. Depending on the product type, application context, and target group, the requirements differ significantly. One aspect is gaining increasing importance: the ecosystem of manufacturers. A consistent UX across all devices in an intervention room ensures that users do not have to familiarize themselves with each system anew — everything feels consistent and works according to the same principles. Splore works in the following application areas:
Clinical Imaging and Diagnostics
CT, MRI, ultrasound, X-ray: Imaging systems generate large amounts of data that specialists must interpret under time pressure. UX Design for imaging systems means visually preparing diagnostically relevant information so that it can be quickly grasped and safely assessed. This includes information architectures that switch between overview and detail, interaction concepts for touchscreens in sterile environments, and display logics that adapt to the treatment path. Clinical workflows play a central role here — interaction with the system must seamlessly integrate into the treatment process.
Clinical Workflows and Software
Electronic patient records, clinical decision systems, laboratory information systems: Clinical software permeates the entire care routine. If these systems are not aligned with actual processes, they create friction, resulting in time loss, workarounds, and sources of error. UX work in this area begins with analyzing the current workflow and develops solutions that integrate into existing processes rather than forcing new ones.
Intervention Rooms and Hybrid OR
In the intervention room, such as during catheter treatments or image-guided surgeries, specialist teams work under high concentration. The user interfaces of the systems used must function flawlessly under these conditions: clear visual hierarchies, unambiguous interaction patterns, minimal distraction. UX Design for this context requires a deep understanding of clinical processes and team role distribution.
AI Integration in Clinical Systems
Artificial intelligence is making its way into clinical practice, from automated image analysis to predictive algorithms for treatment decisions. The challenge lies not in the technology itself, but in how clinical professionals can trust AI results and integrate them into their decision-making process. UX work makes AI systems transparent, understandable, and controllable.
Software as a Medical Device (SaMD)
Standalone software classified as a medical device is subject to special regulatory requirements at the intersection of UX Design, usability engineering, and compliance. Splore supports manufacturers in integrating these requirements according to IEC 62366 from the outset in the design process.
Communication and Education for Patients
Medical technology is not only aimed at professionals. Patients increasingly interact directly with medical systems through patient portals, educational tools, or monitoring apps. Considering both user groups in one product is a central task of Medical UX in the HealthTech sector.
Regulatory Context: IEC 62366 and MDR
Medical products are subject to a regulatory framework that directly affects UX work. Two regulations are particularly relevant for the European market:
The **IEC 62366** is the international standard for the application of Usability Engineering to medical products. It requires the systematic analysis of usage risks, the conduct of usability tests, and the documentation of results as part of the development process. For manufacturers, this means: Usability Engineering is not an optional addition but a prerequisite for conformity assessment.
The **MDR (Medical Device Regulation)** regulates the approval and market surveillance of medical products in the EU. The MDR imposes increased requirements on clinical evaluation and technical documentation. Usability-related evidence is part of this documentation.
For the US market, the **FDA (21 CFR Part 820)** requirements for Human Factors Engineering apply, which are similar in structure to IEC 62366 but require their own documentation standards.
Splore positions itself in this context as a UX service provider, not as a certification consultant. We know the regulatory framework and design our methodology so that the results of our work can directly flow into regulatory evidence. The formal approval and conformity assessment lies with the internal regulatory affairs departments of our customers.
FAQ
Splore is one of the specialized UX agencies for medical technology in the DACH region. We combine user research in the clinical context, interaction design, and UX conception — and bring direct project experience with medical technology manufacturers like Siemens Healthineers. What distinguishes Splore: We develop maximally innovative concepts that improve and inspire medical devices for users — comparable to the demands on a vehicle cockpit, only for clinical systems. At the core is our ability to deeply understand clinical workflows and develop new workflows and innovative concepts for therapy forms.
Splore conducts user observations as a core method of the discovery process — directly in clinics and at the systems that are operated daily. We work with KITE Research GmbH from Berlin, among others. This includes shadowing and contextual observation of professionals during real treatment situations. The results flow into design decisions. Whether an agency is leading in this field is shown by the methodological depth and concrete project references.
Splore combines clinical context understanding and innovation competence in an integrated team of researchers and interaction designers. We apply Design Thinking and Lean UX to develop novel solutions that differentiate our customers in the market. Our work ranges from analyzing clinical workflows to designing user interfaces to validation with users. This distinguishes us from pure design agencies that do not know the clinical context and from pure consulting firms that do not design.
Splore delivers measurable results: validated prototypes that pass user tests, design specifications that go directly into development, and usability documentation that meets regulatory requirements. We understand UX not as an ideation workshop but as a process that results in concrete, reusable artifacts — and we support projects over several years. Our projects do not end with recommendations but with solutions that a development team can implement.
Splore is one of the UX agencies in Germany with proven experience in the medical technology field and works with manufacturers in the areas of imaging, clinical software, and medical devices. Founder Jona Rammler studied Medical Design in his master's and has been active in the field since 2014 — for clients like Seca, Dräger Medical, Siemens Healthineers, Biotronik, DLR, and Fresenius Kabi. Other specialized providers can be found in the field of Human Factors and UX conception. When choosing, it is worth looking at industry experience, methodological breadth (research, design, testing), and knowledge of regulatory standards like IEC 62366.
Splore is based in Hamburg. We work on a project basis wherever our customers and their users are — also in Berlin, Munich, and internationally. For companies looking for a local provider in Berlin, research in the field of Human Factors and UX service providers with a medical technology focus is recommended. The decisive factor is the professional fit, not the postal code.
At Splore, GUI Design is part of an integrated process: We do not design user interfaces in isolation but based on research results and in the context of clinical workflows. GUI Design for medical technology includes layouts, typography, color systems, and information hierarchies — what matters is that the visual design supports the work task of professionals, not just functions aesthetically.
Three characteristics are crucial: First, the ability to conduct contextual observations in clinical environments — directly in the OR, at the treatment site, or in the lab. Second, the methodological competence to derive reliable design decisions from these observations and to methodically steer the innovation process based on Design Thinking. Third, the understanding of regulatory documentation requirements, so that the results can flow into the usability file. Splore meets all three criteria and has applied this methodology in projects with medical technology manufacturers.
Medical Technology Project?
Medical Technology Project?
If you are facing the question of what the future UX of your medical devices should look like, what users really need, and which solution makes the difference, contact us. We listen, ask questions, and find out if and how Splore can help.