introduction details body

A Trusted Advisor for Doctors and Caregivers

Roles
  • Experience Design Lead
Company/Client
  • IBM Interactive
Activities
  • Interaction Design,
  • Experience Design,
  • Data Analysis & Visualization,
  • Knowledge Management,
  • Information Architecture

IBM’s CarePlex was an innovative healthcare platform utilizing Watson’s artificial intelligence to enhance the medical care process for clinicians, patients, and caregivers. The project, a collaboration between IBM and Boston Children’s Hospital, aimed to integrate cognitive computing into healthcare to provide dynamic medical records and personalized care recommendations.

Access to the patient's full medical history

Thumbnail for Access to the patient's full medical history

Design Challenges

In order to be valuable in a clinical environment, a system has to be able to distill the huge corpus of information that comprises a particular patient’s complex clinical situation (including symptoms, condition, drugs, therapies, and treatments). The challenge was to present this clinical data in a way that provided insight into the underlying logic behind Watson’s recommendations while ensuring that the most salient points remain clear and accessible even for users in high-stress environments.
To make this happen, I designed an experience mediated through natural language and validated through transparency, with direct access to external resources to verify Watson’s diagnoses and recommendations.

The Goal

My task as product designer was to implement Watson for use in professional medical practice. In order to be valuable in a clinical environment, a system has to be able to distill the huge corpus of information that comprises a particular patient’s complex clinical situation (including symptoms, condition, drugs, therapies, and treatments).

A living electronic medical record

The interface balanced the depth and breadth of information to surface the insights that caregivers needed most at any given time.

Thumbnail for A living electronic medical record

Creating a Living Medical History

The platform integrated various data sources, including hospital records, medical reports, and real-time data from sensors, to create a comprehensive electronic medical record. This living document served as a foundation for Watson’s analysis and recommendations.

Trust but verify

Watson needed to be regarded as a trustworthy resource for actionable insights into medical data. To build that trust, platform exposed Watson's thinking through easily understood visualizations that provided direct access to referenced medical journals and other key resources.

Thumbnail for Trust but verify

Transparency & Verifiability

Automatic recommendations of potential resources to supplement and/or clarify Watson’s recommendations, including journal articles, instructional videos, tests, and connections to known subject matter experts.
Physicians, patients, and caregivers could see a list of experts who could provide a second opinion, and connect with these individuals through the secure CarePlex community.

Transparency into how Watson drew its conclusions

Thumbnail for Transparency into how Watson drew its conclusions

Communicating an AI's Thought Process

Visualization of Watson’s predictive analytics provided insight into how it drew its conclusions. Doctors could assess an individual’s needs and select interventions with greater confidence and accuracy.

careplex-09.png

Interactions with Watson were recorded as part of the patient's medical record.

Thumbnail for careplex-09.png

Natural Language Interaction

A key feature of CarePlex was its reliance on natural language processing for interaction. This approach allowed users to input and receive information conversationally, streamlining the user experience and focusing attention on critical care decisions.

A global community of experts

In addition to providing direct access to relevant medical journals, Watson also provided access to a global community of experts that caregivers could contact for a second opinion or additional perspective.

Thumbnail for A global community of experts

A Global Community of Experts

CarePlex emerged as a cloud-based SaaS solution that rapidly connected medical professionals worldwide. Its natural language interface facilitated easy adoption across different regions, requiring minimal training. The platform supported a global community, enhancing medical practices with AI-driven insights.

AI Design

By integrating cognitive computing with practical, user-centric design, CarePlex exemplified how technology can address complex challenges in healthcare, offering personalized, data-driven support to improve patient outcomes.