Technology at the service of the patient: participatory design and value assessment

As ICT solutions become an increasingly important part of people’s daily lives, as well as within healthcare, it is of utmost importance for ICT solution researchers and developers to adopt design and evaluation methodologies that pay particular attention to the particular needs, requirements and lifestyles of end users. This is of special importance in the field of health since the diversity of manifestations of these needs and requirements, both of patients and health personnel, demands that the specific conditions of each case be taken into account. Therefore, researchers and developers must incorporate new paradigms in the proposed innovations and in their repertoire of service customization tools that allow this range of potential end users to be included in the process, providing tools that are at the service of patients and contributing to the improvement of their quality of life. Additionally, the evaluation of these solutions should allow knowing not only the proper functioning of the solution and its impact on health through clinical indicators, but also collect indicators that adequately reflect the real contribution to the quality of life and based on the experience of the patients. end users.