This Won’t Hurt a Bit
Designing Invisible Interfaces for Health
Care Providers
Pathfinder Development
http://www.pathf.com
Matthew Nolker
Sholom Sandalow
Copyright 2006
Pathfinder Associates
www.pathf.com

If you design software
for health care
providers, you should
be designing invisible
interfaces
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An Invisible Interface:
• Accommodates the notion that
interacting with the software is not
the primary goal or responsibility
of the user
• Allows operation without looking at
the interface
• Reduces the time it takes to
perform data entry
• Critical in workplaces where using
software is a distraction from
someone’s primary responsibility
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Invisibility is Another Quality
of User Interfaces
Intuitive
Eficient
Error Free
Entertaining
Invisible
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Things You Learn When You
Hang Out at a Blood Bank
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Step 1: No Waiting in Line to Enter Data
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Step 2: Create a Simple Workflow that Directly Tracks
the Phlebotomist’s Donation Process
Process Data Entry
2
1
3
STATUS
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MJH Exit
Sue
Johnson
D of B: 10/14/1970
Fail
Donor Info
BLEED # ELAPSE TIME
PROCEDURE
1234567891
WB 00:00:00
01:03:09
START
Arm
PREP
LOT #1
Start Time
Arm
PREP
LOT #2
UP DOWN
STATUS
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Exit
MJH
Sue
Johnson
B-day: 10/14/1970
Donor Info Fail
BLEED # BLEED # ELAPSE TIME
1234567891
WB
WB 00:00:00
ARM
Right
Left
Both
CANCEL
STATUS
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MJH Exit
Sue
Johnson
D of B: 10/14/1970
Fail
Donor Info
BLEED # ELAPSE TIME
PROCEDURE
1234567891
WB 00:00:00
01:03:09
START
Right
Arm
PREP
Prep
LOT #1
Start Time
Arm
PREP
LOT #2
UP DOWN
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Exit
MJH
Sue
Johnson
B-day: 10/14/1970
Donor Info Fail
BLEED # BLEED # ELAPSE TIME
1234567891
WB 00:00:00
PREP #1
Please Scan Prep #1
Bar Code
CANCEL
STATUS
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MJH Exit
Sue
Johnson
D of B: 10/14/1970
Fail
Donor Info
BLEED # ELAPSE TIME
PROCEDURE
1234567891
WB 00:00:00
01:03:09
START
Arm
Prep SJohnson
Start Time
Arm
927820436
Prep
UP DOWN
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Step 3: Simple, readable and intuitive interaction and
information design
Exit Exit
MJH MJH
Sue Sue
Johnson Johnson
B-day: 10/14/1970 B-day: 10/14/1970
Donor Info Fail Donor Info Fail
BLEED # BLEED # ELAPSE TIME BLEED # BLEED # ELAPSE TIME
1234567891 1234567891
WB
WB WB
00:00:00 00:00:00
Please confirm
TBD Finish
successful procedure:
Success 1 2 3 4
Failure SuccessNo
Retry
CANCEL Cancel
STATUS
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\"You know it really works. We laugh
about it - we don't even have to
demo it, [the phlebotomists] just
take it out of your hands and start
using it.\"
- Susan McBride, Haemonetics (IDM)
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Coming soon:
Full copy of the 45 minute World Usability Day
presentation on Invisible Interfaces in Health Care
Best Practices for Designing Invisible Interfaces
Developing Invisible Interfaces - How to Build Useable
Software with a User Experience Driven Development
Process
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