UX design for
home-use
medical devices
Designed around life at home.
We help medical device teams make setup, daily use, and moments of uncertainty clearer for patients and caregivers.
Featured In
Trusted by medical device leaders since 2002
- Medrad
- Edwards Lifesciences
- COBE
- Thermo Fisher Scientific
- Johnson & Johnson
- DermSpectra
- Medtronic
- ANEUVO
- Life Technologies
- Alcon
- Baxter
- Enigma Diagnostics
- Ormco
- Braun
- Niche Bio
- Life Scan
- Gambro
- Wavetec Vision
- Advanced Bionics
Design around the people who use it.
From opening the box to sharing responsibility, we design for the whole experience.
First use
Guide unboxing, device setup and app pairing, with clear confirmation when everything is ready.
Daily routines
Make device status, task completion and caregiver handoffs easy to understand.
Recovery & support
Help people reconnect, resume an interrupted task and find the right support.
Our approach
From observation to design decisions.
Explore the full workflow. Make uncertainty visible. Test what matters.
Understand real use
Study intended users, home environments, abilities, routines and support needs.
Map uncertainty
Use Anxiety Maps to capture hesitation, uncertainty, workarounds and changes in confidence.
Prototype complete workflows
Explore setup, daily use, interrupted tasks and shared responsibilities.
Evaluate and refine
Use formative usability testing with intended users to identify difficulties and refine the design.
Illustrative home-use example
How an Anxiety Map guides design.
Moment
Should I press the Pause button?
Uncertainty
Will I be able to resume where I left off?
Design response
Make the device’s behavior predictable.
What your project can include
- Research findings
- Patient & caregiver workflows
- Anxiety Maps
- Interactive prototypes
- Usability findings
- Design guidance
ExaStim
Related project experience
Different users. A connected product experience.
ExaStim brings clinician and patient workflows into a shared design system, with electrode-placement guidance, session timing and clear confirmations. Formative evaluation with clinicians informed the design.
Read the spinal stimulation case study
From our insights
When the Use Environment Moves Into the Kitchen
Why setup, support and shared responsibilities deserve closer attention when medical technology enters the home.
Read the articleQuestions about your project
Why choose Areteworks for home-use medical device UX design?
We combine extensive experience designing medical devices and healthcare applications with consumer product work for Samsung, including home appliances and mobile apps. This combination helps us design for both healthcare requirements and the everyday needs of patients and caregivers at home.
Can you improve setup on an existing device?
We review setup, device connections and user feedback to identify where patients or caregivers need clearer guidance.
How do you design for patients and caregivers?
We clarify roles, shared tasks and handoffs, with attention to different abilities and levels of technical confidence.
How do you evaluate home-use workflows?
Before design begins, we conduct research in patients’ homes to understand their daily activities and how they might use the device. We then create rapid prototypes and test them with intended users in representative scenarios, refining the design based on what we learn.
How long does a typical project take?
Projects typically take four weeks to five months, depending on the scope and the research, design and usability testing involved. We can provide a clearer timeline after discussing your goals and requirements.
Do you work with companies outside the United States?
Yes. We have worked with companies outside the United States and welcome inquiries from international healthcare teams.
How are your services priced?
We offer hourly engagements and fixed-fee projects. Hourly work provides flexibility as your needs evolve, while fixed-fee pricing is based on an agreed scope. Contact us to discuss your project and request our current rates or a project estimate.
Planning a medical device for home use?
Tell us about your product and where your team needs clarity.