Organizational Barriers Limit Personalization in Health Tech Design
Designers, developers, and product managers in health tech often face organizational constraints that hinder the implementation of personalized user experiences, leading to scaled-back personalization efforts.
Designing Interactive Systems Conference · 2024
Key Findings
- 01Four types of barriers consistently impede personalization efforts.
- 02Three pragmatic approaches are frequently adopted to navigate these barriers.
Application
Design takeaway
Designers should proactively identify and plan for organizational barriers to personalization, integrating pragmatic solutions into the design process from the outset.
How to apply
When designing a personalized feature, map out potential organizational hurdles (e.g., development time, data integration, stakeholder buy-in) and brainstorm alternative, feasible approaches.
Project actions
- 01When proposing personalization, consider the 'real-world' constraints of implementation.
- 02Think about how your design choices might impact development time, cost, or data management.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Provides insight into the 'behind-the-scenes' challenges of personalization.
- +Focuses on the perspectives of those directly involved in product creation.
Limitations
The study's findings are based on interviews within a single company, so the specific barriers and approaches might differ in other organizations.
Reliability & validity
Qualitative interviews provide rich, in-depth data but may be subject to researcher bias. The findings are triangulated by interviewing multiple roles (designers, developers, PMs) within one company.
Think critically
To what extent should designers prioritize ideal user personalization over practical organizational constraints, and how can this balance be achieved effectively?
Design Principles
"Personalization in product design must be balanced with organizational feasibility and resource management."
Understanding these internal organizational barriers is crucial for designing effective personal informatics tools. It highlights the need for strategies that balance user desires for personalization with the practical realities of product development within a company setting.
What This Means for Your Design
Companies that make health apps sometimes can't make them as personalized as they want because of problems with their own systems and how they work, so they have to find simpler ways to personalize.
How to use in your project
- 1.Use this research to justify design choices that might be less personalized but more feasible to implement within project constraints.
- 2.Discuss how organizational factors influenced your design decisions.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
(2024). Designing for Personalization in Personal Informatics: Barriers and Pragmatic Approaches from the Perspectives of Designers, Developers, and Product Managers. Designing Interactive Systems Conference. https://doi.org/10.1145/3643834.3661622 Retrieved from https://designdex.org/study/0ec74025-db94-4d5e-8e1a-3a962f2f9756/organizational-barriers-limit-personalization-in-health-tech-design
Paragraph starter
This research highlights that personalization in product design is often constrained by organizational factors such as resource allocation and system limitations. When developing personalized features for a design project, it is important to consider these pragmatic realities and explore adaptable design strategies that align with the feasibility of implementation.
Source
Designing Interactive Systems Conference
Designing for Personalization in Personal Informatics: Barriers and Pragmatic Approaches from the Perspectives of Designers, Developers, and Product Managers
journal · 2024
View sourceQuestions about this research
- What does the research say about organizational barriers limit personalization in health tech design?
- Designers should proactively identify and plan for organizational barriers to personalization, integrating pragmatic solutions into the design process from the outset. Evidence: Designing Interactive Systems Conference (2024).
- Why does "Organizational Barriers Limit Personalization in Health Tech Design" matter for design?
- Understanding these internal organizational barriers is crucial for designing effective personal informatics tools. It highlights the need for strategies that balance user desires for personalization with the practical realities of product development within a company setting.
- How can designers apply this research?
- Designers should proactively identify and plan for organizational barriers to personalization, integrating pragmatic solutions into the design process from the outset.
- What were the main findings?
- Four types of barriers consistently impede personalization efforts.. Three pragmatic approaches are frequently adopted to navigate these barriers.
- What research method was used?
- Qualitative interviews.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2024 journal from Designing Interactive Systems Conference.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When designing a personalized feature, map out potential organizational hurdles (e.g., development time, data integration, stakeholder buy-in) and brainstorm alternative, feasible approaches.
- What are the limitations?
- Findings are specific to one multinational company and may not generalize to all organizational contexts or company sizes.
- Is there evidence that organizational barriers affects design outcomes?
- The study identified common challenges within organizations that prevent full personalization in health tech tools, and revealed practical methods used by teams to adapt their design strategies. Understanding these internal organizational barriers is crucial for designing effective personal informatics tools. It highli Source: Designing Interactive Systems Conference (2024).
- Where does this personalization research apply?
- Design and development of personal informatics tools for health management within a multinational company. It sits within user-centred design research on designdex.org.
Related research topics
organizational barriers design research · evidence on organizational barriers · does organizational barriers improve design outcomes · personalization studies for designers · organizational barriers and personalization findings · user-centred design research evidence