Close to twelve months ago I joined the Liquid team, initially as a contractor and more recently in a permanent role as Director of Health. Anniversaries are a great time to reflect, and upon doing so, I thought these 3 lessons are worth sharing with friends in healthcare who may be starting on their digital transformation journey. I wish I had appreciated these lessons earlier (oh the hours I would have saved!).
Lesson 1: User research is an absolute must
My first big takeaway is this: you cannot get the best outcome without first completing user research theres no question about it.
I used to be uncertain (avoided it like the plague) about diving into user research, for a few reasons. First, I thought finding users to participate would be hard. Then, I worried about interrupting them and taking up their limited and precious time (time-scarce clinicians and healthcare workforce issues playing a big part in this, amongst other things). And finally, I feared letting them down if I couldn't meet their needs.
Turns out however, that if your service or product is useful and solves a problem for them, users are surprisingly easy to find andverywilling to spend time talking about it. While offering incentives is often necessary (and also a legal requirement in some instances), Ive found most people are pleased to help and appreciate being heard, even if it means juggling time to participate with their busy schedule.
As for my fear of letting users down? On reflection, I understand that not engaging with users at all almost guaranteed that I would be. But by doing the research and delving into user pain points and experiences, we understand their needs better and importantly understand the diversity of needs. With regard to delivering them, thats what user-focused strategic planning is for! Create the plan and address the needs over time.
