HxD 2012:EIGHT TAKEAWAYSMarch 27, 2012

Luminary Labs@luminarylabswww.luminary-labs.com

Food underpins systemic changes in healthKicked off by Robyn O'Brien in her personal story about food allergies and reinforced by Gary Hirshberg's exploration of the ills of conventional US farming practices, the impact of what we eat on our nation's health became a persistent undercurrent. Diabetes, cancer, heart disease, asthma, and a plethora of other conditions have been linked to the effects of the modern US food system. The audience was presented with a strong call to action to think more broadly about our health.

Our government is backing innovationIn a riveting presentation full of awesomeness and mojo, Todd Park described the steps HHS is taking toward the creation of a "self-propelled, open ecosystem of innovation". The focus is on engaging entrepreneurs to use newly accessible data to improve health (and ultimately create more jobs). He empowered us to take action by affirming that it's not the government's health data, but rather our own.

Behavior change comes in many formsFrom encouraging small steps to up-ing motivation to walking through the stages of change, a variety of methods for behavior change were presented. There is no miracle recipe, but the consensus throughout is that learning rapidly from interventions is the best path to success.

Gaming = behavior changeThough "gamification" is becoming an increasingly unpopular word, the use of game mechanics was consistently* presented as the method for changing behavior. With focus exclusively on mobile and online offerings, it's clear the approach is still maturing into a well-adapted methodology in health.

* aside from BJ Fogg's presentation

See the people behind the dataSeveral of the more popular sessions focused on patient stories, qualitative research, and unpacking the real people lying behind potentially misleading statistics. Though not labeled human-centered design, there was an upswell of conversation around how "data are people too".

Make it understandable and I will be engagedBoth Stephen Anderson and Trapper Markelz walked through examples of frustratingly complex data (choosing an insurance plan, Type 1 diabetes regimen) and the scenarios behind them. By applying methods from information architecture and graphic design, they showed how a previously overwhelming table of numbers can be transformed into a dynamic visualization informing choice and behavior.

Design for failure to create long-term successUnderstanding that a system will fail, and designing for those failure cases, encourages continued success. Devorah Klein from Continuum discussed how emphasis on rewards for people who have trouble changing behavior is like sending a "you suck" message when they're most vulnerable. Acknowledge that failure is natural and create systems that meet their users where they are.

Bring good interaction design to healthSeveral speakers communicated design principles such as spacing out information, providing appropriate cues for action, and being very clear about activities and feedback. The phrase "and the rest is just good interaction design" was commonly heard throughout the day.