Leveraging design thinking to build sustainable mobile health systems
Open Access
Author:
Eckman, Molly Coulter
Area of Honors:
Elective Area of Honors - Engineering Entrepreneurship
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Khanjan Mehta, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Sven G Bilén, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
mobile health design thinking developing world
Abstract:
Mobile health, or mHealth, technology has the potential to improve healthcare access in the developing world. However, the majority of mHealth projects do not expand beyond the pilot stage. A core reason why is because they do not account for the individual needs and wants of those involved. A collaborative approach is needed to integrate the perspectives of all stakeholders into the design and operation of mHealth endeavors. Design thinking is a methodology used to develop and evaluate novel concepts for systems. With roots in participatory processes and self-determined pathways, design thinking provides a compelling framework to understand and apply the needs of diverse stakeholders to mHealth project development through a highly iterative process. The methodology presented in this thesis provides a structured approach to apply design thinking principles to assess the feasibility of novel mHealth endeavors during early conceptualization.
