HSD’s curriculum is focused on training students in broadly relevant design practices for the health professions and other careers. Within that broad scope of relevance, there are some career sectors where health-related design competencies are especially needed. Those sectors include medical technology, health care consulting, international aid, and public health, especially areas of public health that involve community outreach and program development.

Across multiple sectors, there are also specific career categories in which health-related and general design competencies are especially needed. Those career categories include product developer, user experience researcher, research and development technician, and a range of roles in strategy and innovation.

In 2018, McKinsey & Company published the results of a five-year study on the financial impact of design activities in 300 companies, focusing on the consumer goods, retail banking and medical technology industries. The consulting firm developed an index to systematically evaluate those companies’ design activities in multiple domains, including involving customers in product and service development, engaging designers in interprofessional teams and encouraging teams to repeatedly test and refine prototypes. The study found that across the three industries, the companies that were most involved in design activities experienced 32% higher revenue and 56% higher shareholder returns.

In addition, the benefits of training in health design competencies exist across a spectrum of health professions. In a commentary in Innovations in Pharmacy, the authors note that the practice of pharmacy has often benefited from creative problem-solving that takes human factors into account. Historically, pharmacists have needed to make the medications they compound attractive, palatable, accessible, affordable and convenient. Both historically and today, pharmacists have needed to address issues such as health literacy to help medication users find success in their care plans.

In the practice of medicine and public health, health design competencies have also been critical to the success of a variety of interventions. In a review of published literature on design thinking in health care published in Preventing Chronic Disease, the authors found multiple examples of interventions that were made more effective through the use of design practices. One example was a mobile health screening tool for cardiovascular disease, which required comprehensive problem-solving around user interface and technical infrastructure for its successful deployment in rural India. Design competencies “allowed the multidisciplinary team to question assumptions and biases and develop an intervention that was successful, acceptable, and feasible to the actual users.” Another example was an education tool that accompanied a contraceptive product. The clinicians who developed the tool made it more impactful through an iterative design process, which led to the addition of peer testimonials that could improve its relevance to end users.

The above are some examples of how design practices, including health-focused design practices, have had real-world impact and economic benefit.