Human-Centered Design in Medical Products: A Psychophysical Perspective

Timetable

Lectures will be preferably 2 hours each week (7 meetings in total, 15 teaching hours). The detailed timetable will be provided at the start of the semester.

Location: Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań

Module aim (aims)

This module aims to introduce students to medical product development from a human-centered and psychophysical perspective. The course focuses on why developing medical products is important, why their development is complex, and how human perceptual, cognitive and decision-making limits influence measurement reliability, safety and usability.

The content is supported by the instructor’s direct experience in developing and commercializing the medical product StethoMe, from the initial idea and basic research to a certified product available on the market. As a result, the module combines theoretical foundations with practical insights into product development, validation, regulation and commercialization of scientific research, providing students with a real-world perspective on translating research outcomes into market-ready medical technologies.

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

English language skills at a level enabling participation in discussions, and reading the proposed literature.

Syllabus

Topic 1: WHY medical products matter and why they are difficult to build
Importance of medical products and their impact on healthcare. Overview of the development process from research to market.

Topic 2: WHY humans are not ideal measurement systems
Human perception and decision-making as non-ideal processes. Psychophysics, thresholds, variability, noise and bias.

Topic 3: HOW to measure humans properly
Psychophysical methods for measuring thresholds and performance. Limits of laboratory measurements in real-world use.

Topic 4: HOW to measure perception, experience and intention
Measurement of sensory impressions, subjective experience and intention. From perception to decision and action.

Topic 5: HOW to study real users
User research methods, observation and usability testing. Real behavior versus declared behavior.

Topic 6: HOW to build products based on science
Design thinking, UX principles and iterative product development.

Topic 7: WHAT it looks like in practice – case study
Case study: StethoMe. From idea and research to certified medical product and market implementation.

Reading list

1. Wickens, C. D., Lee, J. D., Liu, Y., & Gordon-Becker, S. (2021).
   Humanizing Healthcare – Human Factors for Medical Device Design. CRC Press.

2. Stein, B. E. (2012).
   The Merging of the Senses. MIT Press.

3. Moore, B. C. J. (2012).
   An Introduction to the Psychology of Hearing. 6th ed., Brill.

4. Kahneman, D. (2011).
   Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

5. Green, D. M., & Swets, J. A. (1966).
   Signal Detection Theory and Psychophysics. Wiley.

6. Gescheider, G. A. (1997).
   Psychophysics: The Fundamentals. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

7. Norman, D. A. (2013).
   The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books.