Article by Robert G. Mannino, Santiago J. Arconada Alvarez, Morgan Greenleaf, Maren Parsell, Comfort Mwalija and Wilbur A. Lam
Abstract
With today’s pace of rapid technological advancement, many patient issues in modern medicine are increasingly solvable by mobile app solutions, which also have the potential to transform how clinical research is conducted. However, many critical challenges in the app development process impede bringing these translational technologies to patients, caused in large part by the lack of knowledge among clinicians and biomedical researchers of “what it takes” to design, develop, and maintain a successful medical app. Indeed, problems requiring mobile app solutions are often nuanced, requiring more than just clinical expertise, and issues such as the cost and effort required to develop and maintain a well-designed, sustainable, and scalable mobile app are frequently underestimated. To bridge this skill set gap, we established an academic unit of designers, software engineers, and scientists that leverage human- centered design methodologies and multi-disciplinary collaboration to develop clinically viable smartphone apps. In this report, we discuss major misconceptions clinicians and biomedical researchers often hold…