Summary of 5 core guidelines for connected, digital health experiences. Based on recent experience working with health and wellness companies 
to accelerate innovation through UX design, Punchcut outlines 
five basic guidelines for making digital health services more seamless.

1. CONNECTED HEALTH:
A JOURNEY IN WELLNESS
2018

2. AS PRODUCT EXPERIENCES
ARE BECOMING MORE
CONNECTED, CONSUMER
EXPECTATIONS ARE
GETTING HIGHER.

3. YET, HEALTHCARE
EXPERIENCES ARE NOT
INTUITIVE AND SEAMLESS
DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY
OF THE ECOSYSTEM.

4. HEALTH/WELLNESS
ECOSYSTEM
CONSUMER PHYSICIAN MEDICAL GROUP REGULATIONSCOMMUNITY
PAYERS
3RD PARTY
DEVICES & SERVICES
HEALTH TRACKING DEVICES
MEDICAL DEVICES
PHARMACEUTICAL

5. At Punchcut, we work with health and wellness companies
to accelerate innovation in the industry by designing more
seamless digital health experiences. We have identified
five basic guidelines for making services seamless.
MAKING IT SEAMLESS
The New Paradigm

6. Care for the whole
person, not the patient
Design for a lifelong
journey of wellness
Increase access
to care-points
Empower people with
meaningful insight
Simplify tools
for expert care
1
2
3
4
5
Making it Seamless
Key Guidelines

7. CARE FOR THE
WHOLE PERSON,
NOT THE PATIENT
Consumers are increasingly seeking holistic wellness, beyond
just their physical health. See the complete picture of the person
by partnering with them to understand the relationships between
their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
1

8. Everyone is different. Health and wellness
experiences should be personalized to
accommodate each person’s needs. Rather
than relying on standard methods of treatment
based on general norms, adopt personalized
medicine approaches in which treatment is
tailored for each patient taking into
consideration their unique genetic makeup,
lifestyle, and environment.
Care for the Whole Person
Personalize
the care
experience

9. Tracking everyday health information across
a variety of dimensions via wearable devices
turns the patient into a partner and provides
rich data about the person’s lifestyle. This
enables physicians to treat their patients more
holistically, rather than based on just their
sickness. It can also shift focus towards
preventive care.
Care for the Whole Person
Get multi-
dimensional
life data

10. It [wearable] brings it to the
forefront for the patient and
encourages them to seek
medical attention.
– Physician who thinks wearable device has
potential to contribute to preventive care

11. DESIGN FOR A
LIFELONG JOURNEY
OF WELLNESS
Health and wellness is a continuous journey, not an end state.
The key to progress is motivating healthy behaviors that form into
lifelong habits. Plan for health services to support the journey
and align motivational cues to intrinsic values.
2

12. People need to envision the positive impacts
of their actions to be motivated to start the
action. Seamless experiences should lay out
small steps and affirmations along the journey in
order to show that change is possible and help
develop the self-efficacy critical for success.
Make the first steps easy and attainable.
Lifelong Journey
Enable a
good start

13. Design for day 95, not just day 1. Starting is only
half the battle; but, keeping up with healthy
habits and treatments is the critical half to
success. Many products extrinsically motivate
individuals, but the key to long lasting behavior
change is developing intrinsic motivation.
Leverage ethnographic research to pinpoint
values and chart the motivational journey.
Lifelong Journey
Maintain
healthy
momentum

14. Patients’ non-adherence to
medication caused an estimated
$290 billion avoidable annual
expenses in the US
New England Healthcare Institute

15. INCREASE ACCESS
TO CARE-POINTS
Consumers expect ubiquitous access in this seamless era.
But, fewer visits and limited information create barriers to
continuous care. Innovate with light-weight access to
info and consultation as ongoing care-points for people.
3

16. I communicate with a physician
assistant [on mobile app]. It’s
a wonderful tool for me to
advocate for myself.
– Patient who needs regular
checkup for an ongoing health issue

17. On the journey of wellness, care becomes
a conversation. Easy access to the right
information and guidance provides
asynchronous care-points between patient
and physician and fills the gap between
appointments. Minimize the barriers to
access to enrich individuals with knowledge
and care on a more continual basis.
Access to Care-Points
Engage in open
conversation

18. EMPOWER PEOPLE
WITH MEANINGFUL
INSIGHT
It’s not enough to collect health data. The power comes when
data is translated into meaningful insights that inspire people
to take action. Ensure data is paired with expert insight that helps
individuals understand how to turn it into healthy action.
4

19. The future is about intelligence, not data alone.
Grow intelligence by bringing data and expertise
together through shared knowledge repositories
of holistic health and medical data. Begin with
small steps to link simple information and then
chart a plan for consolidation in order to provide
a holistic view of each individual’s health.
Meaningful Insight
Merge data
for health
intelligence

20. Now whenever my
specialist orders something
for me, he sends it to my
primary care physician and
the other way around.
– Patient who experienced
miscommunication between his doctors

21. Data without expertise is overwhelming. Pair it
with clear guidance and it is power. In a recent
study, our research participants described not
trusting their health tracking solutions when
they did not understand how the data was
collected, or lacked proof of its accuracy.
Skepticism was less prevalent when users
understood the technology, or had proof of the
devices’ efficacy after meeting their physician.
Meaningful Insight
Pair data
with trusted
insight

22. SIMPLIFY TOOLS
FOR EXPERT CARE
Streamline the overall care experience by improving healthcare
providers’ tools to be on par with the best consumer grade
tools. Design technology interfaces in a human-centered way to
simplify workflow and augment clinicians’ ability to deliver care.
5

23. Physicians spend 27% of
their work day on face-to-face
interaction with the patient and
49.2% on EHR and other desk
work.
Allocation of Physician Time in Ambulatory Practice:
A Time and Motion Study in 4 Specialties

24. Start by understanding clinicians’ needs and
workflow through strategic user experience
research and design, before rolling out new
tools or products. Fighting status quo bias
requires a careful transition plan and time for
adoption. Avoid platform one size fits all
solutions. Leverage consumer UX approaches to
internal tools to achieve simplicity and delight.
Expert Care
Smooth the
transition for
clinicians

25. The user experience of expert tools needs to
be intuitive enough that the cognitive burden of
learning how to integrate them into a healthcare
provider’s workflow is kept to a minimum. Help
clinicians find new value in tools that offload
the chore of manual input for more automated
solutions that allow them to focus on providing
more personal, face-to-face care.
Expert Care
Plan for
frictionless
on-boarding

26. A JOURNEY OF WELLNESS
BEGINS HERE.
HOLISTIC
PERSON
CARE-POINTS
ACCESS
MEANINGFUL
INSIGHT
EXPERT
CARE
LIFELONG
JOURNEY
54321
Step by step the health industry has the opportunity to break
down barriers and collaborate more in delivering seamless care.

27. SUPPORTING THE JOURNEY
OF WELLNESS REQUIRES
SEAMLESS EXPERIENCES
Applying these guidelines is not a simple task given the current
state of the industry. As in any journey, experiences will evolve
one step at a time. To be seamless, companies must embrace
new paradigms driven by people-centric design.

28. THAT’S WHERE
WE COME IN.
For over 15 years, Punchcut has been helping the world’s most
innovative companies establish future design vision and product
design solutions that accelerate product UX innovation.

29. WE ARE PUNCHCUT AND
WE DESIGN FOR THE
FUTURE OF WELLNESS.

30.
From wearables to medical devices and connected health
services, we are working across the industry to bring strong
people-centric UX thinking to the creation of new products and
services that enhance health and wellbeing.
SEAMLESS
HEALTH & WELLNESS
INNOVATION
PHOTO: Gabriel Garcia Marengo

31. Punchcut Wellness Design
Seamless
Health UX
With deep consumer
expertise, we apply a
people-first approach
to research and design
for wearables, medical
devices, healthcare
services and tools.
LIFEBEAMFITBIT
GE HEALTHCARE

32. Title
PUNCHCUT IS A DESIGN
+ INNOVATION COMPANY
We specialize in future user
experience transformation.
We provide design acceleration
services to spark future vision,
power product design and fuel
team growth for our partners.
We offer a range of flexible
engagement models from
targeted innovation sessions,
to focused full-service projects,
and flexible open support.

33. LET’S TALK.
For more information on Punchcut
and or to talk to us about a project,
contact business@punchcut.com.
© 2018 Punchcut.
All rights reserved.