Healthcare powered by UX and technology — Could UX design lend a hand in the race to finding a solution for dementia?
Over the past five years, I’ve been drawn to designing within the healthcare sector. Recently, I’ve tailored my work more specifically around our society’s ageing demographic: using design methodologies with speculative research to explore how best to better the lives of people as they grow older.
Dementia presents a growing problem to our already overburdened NHS. Looking first at wearable technology’s ability to remotely and unobtrusively monitor those living with dementia, I created a speculative project that focused on the use of olfactory experiences to improve the quality of life for both those living with the disease, as well as the carers and family members that support them on a daily basis.
Pushing the boundaries of this research further, I’ve been exploring how recent advancements in AI could be used to update current methods of disease diagnosis. Traditional techniques for identifying a condition such as Alzheimer’s dementia are obtrusive, and often overlooked until the symptoms become unmanageable. However, emerging technologies such as wearables, Internet of Things (IoT), and omnipresent smartphones and tablets provide the precious opportunity for AI to be used to analyse the behaviour and cognition of individuals at any time.
The use of such devices to detect signs of cognitive deterioration or abnormalities in a user’s typical behavioural could help obtain a diagnosis for a disease like dementia up to a decade before conventional diagnosis techniques. Breakthroughs in this field will help scientists and doctors to both better utilise the pharmaceutical options available, and allow data collection in the earlier stages of a disease. This data might hold the key to dramatically slowing down the onset of it, or better yet, cure it altogether.
This research, conducted throughout my studies, kindled in me a desire to design useful and beautiful ‘things’ — be they digital or physical — in order to help people, and improve the lives of those living with similar diseases. Dementia was the obvious first choice of condition for me to explore as, just like millions of people, I have a family member living with it. As the propensity for people to live longer increases worldwide it will become more important for us to better understand and manage the condition. Moreover, until we can find a cure, we can help relieve some of the burden on those living with it, as well as support those that dedicate themselves to their protection and care.
An aspect of ELSE’s culture as a design agency that led me to applying to work here was their emphasis on research and development work (R&D). Working in groups every other week, we are given the opportunity and space to create, independent of clients, a range of speculative and grounded projects that hold importance to us. Already hooked on the idea, I was excited to hear that one of the ongoing projects focuses on design interventions for those living with dementia.
Although an industry in its relative infancy and unknown to much of the general public, it is already becoming clear that the use of experience design, AI and emerging technology will considerably shape the future of the healthcare sector within our lifetime. It is expected that these technologies will allow us to become more responsible and active in our own healthcare. There is sometimes a preconceived notion that AI and technology is here to ‘replace us’. I believe it is important for us as designers to challenge this idea through demonstrating that we can live harmoniously with this technology, and use it as a means to not only monitor our health, but benefit it.
A bit about me
Having joined ELSE in September I’ve worked on a wide range of projects from the speculative, to those grounded in creating positive change in the world we live in. I finished a Masters in Artificial Intelligence this year, having completed my BDes in Product Design at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA). The Masters in AI was a somewhat spontaneous decision, but one I can say a year later helped consolidate my desire to create positive, human-centred change within the changing design world. This led me to ELSE.
This brief overview represents a work in progress of my interest in designing for healthcare, with a larger body of work looking in-depth at themes such as the challenges of designing for healthcare, ethical and legal implications of AI and it’s inclusion within the healthcare sector, as well as a more speculative discussion as to what the future of healthcare might look like as the sector becomes increasingly more dynamic, interdisciplinary, and patient led.
