UX/UI Design

Design a user interface simulating a mechanical ventilator.

My former employer attends multiple conferences and events each year, and we do our best to give a great impression at each one. We have a showcase model that we take with us for people to interact with, and I was given the opportunity to design its user interface.

This challenge required a great deal of research. Knowing next to nothing about ventilators, I began by understanding what their functions were. Since they varied greatly in style, purpose, and overall appearance, a dialogue began regarding content to include.

We started with the users, and determined the following three:

1. Respiratory Therapist

2. Pulmonologist

3. ICU Nurse

We created simplified user personas for each of the three, to help us get a better understanding of how each user might interact with our UI.

Thinking about hierarchy and layout, I began breaking up the area into fields based on research and communication. The darker the shade of gray indicates where the more important information will be placed.

I then sketched out possible layouts, focusing on sizing, spacing, and once again hierarchy.

Next, I began exploring wireframes. These were similar to the fields and sketches I had created earlier, but with additional rough content. These four wireframes were different layout possibilities.

Once we had established the content to include, we created a workflow map that the user would take.

While I designed the user interface, our physical showcase model was designed in-house by industrial designers, mechanical designers, mechanical engineers, and human factors engineers.

This was modeled at MD&M 2019, the largest three-day medtech conference in North America, where it acted as a conversation starter at our booth, and made a strong first impression on potential clients.

We brought in an expert on mechanical ventilation and had back-and-forth communication with him to ensure it felt as “real” as possible.

Collaboration is an important component to designing a great user experience. I learned that from its genesis to its completion different roles bring different strengths. Working alone doesn't allow the opportunity to get different perspectives, outside ideas, or feedback from a different angle I may not have seen.

We had restrictions and requirements as far as color, typography size, and iconography, but I feel we dealt with them well and ended up with a clean and successful UI. We were happy with the attention it brought to our booth, and that people saw it and were drawn to it.