6 Ways to Make People Fall in Love with Your Medical Device

6 Ways to Make People Fall in Love with Your Medical Device

Compliance is a multibillion dollar problem in the medical industry. Too many sick people are failing to take medications or use medical devices as prescribed, and as a result, they’re not getting and staying well. This adds up to billions of wasted dollars, as consumers and insurers pay for doctor visits without any gains to health and quality of life.

While most pharmaceutical and medical device companies today view compliance as a logical decision that can be ascertained with functional, effective products, product design consultancy Karten Design looks at compliance as a human problem, with roots buried deep in human behavior and psychology. Adhering to a treatment regimen is not a logical decision, but an emotional one.

Imagine your doctor has just diagnosed you with diabetes. In an instant, your life has changed. You’re instructed to increase your exercise, give up sweets and starches, start monitoring your blood sugar, and take insulin. How do you respond? In large part, it depends on how you feel.

Today’s health solutions may be clinically functional and easy to use and understand—all of which appeal to a patient’s logical brain—but we know that human behavior is heavily influenced by emotion. So, how can we tap into people’s emotions to create longer-lasting behavior change?

Here's a humble suggestion:

Help People Fall in Love

Falling in love is one of the most emotionally intense experiences a person undergoes. Karten Design researchers have actually studied the process of falling on love—the different hormones, emotions, and feedback loops involved—and have developed the following six principles to help people emotionally connect to health products:

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