Panel: Creating Expert Level GUIs for Complex Medical Devices

Graphical User Interfaces are so pervasive and have so many different design intents that it can be hard to see the norms and evolution of norms being applied over the past couple of decades. In medical devices, more than most, tradeoffs between safety, effectiveness and pleasure-to-use, dominate the design efforts.

Much focus and debate has been applied to paradigms of “simple yet effective” in GUI design. The most commonly cited ideals in the Apple eco-system and skeuomorphic design concern themselves with the novice user and technology adoption. But not all products are designed for the novice user.

For UIs that expose advanced or unstructured feature sets to the user, the normative approach has been to compromise on the simplicity to extend the functionality. But such an approach can be incremental and muddled where a better approach might be cogent redesign.

We will explore the evolution of a life-saving lung transplant medical device from Tevosol that implements an expert-level GUI for clinical users. Focus will be on lessons learned and the design principles ultimately chosen.

Milton Yarberry: Moderator
Mr. Yarberry is a certified PMP and Scrum Master with a background in software architecture and medical device product development. He has 20 years of experience in product development, with 10 years in software consulting and 15 years working with Class II and Class III medical device manufacturers. In his current role as the Director of Medical Programs for Integrated Computer Solutions (ICS), Mr. Yarberry leads a team of professionals in the development of medical software solutions for clients in the healthcare industry. His expertise in program management and regulatory requirements make him a valuable asset to the ICS team.

Don Goetz
Mr. Goetz’s expertise spans design for touch, gesture and voice interfaces, as well as embedded devices. He has more than a decade of experience in all phases of the UX lifecycle, including user requirements, persona development, information architecture, wireframing, user/usability testing, and heuristic analysis. He has worked closely with a spectrum of clients in the medical device and healthcare arenas, including Quidel, Tevosol and Setra. He holds a degree in Information Design from Bentley University.

Katie Cameron
Ms. Cameron brought her mechanical and biomedical engineering expertise to Tevosol, a Bridge to Life Company, maker of functional, portable, and affordable medical devices to preserve, assess, and reclaim donor organs for life saving transplants. Founded by world-class cardiothoracic surgeons and clinician-scientists, Tevosol has assembled an engineering and design team of vision and talent, supported by a circle of advisors and partners with force multiplying resources, experience to spare, and unrivaled speed to market.