Advancing Digital Health Research Through Human-Centered Design: Inside Feinberg’s Design for Digital Health Reading Course
The Design for Digital Health Reading Course, hosted by the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (CBITs), provides researchers the opportunity to learn and apply human-centered design (HCD) methods to the design and implementation of digital health interventions. The course teaches participants to leverage design theory and methods to enhance engagement with and improve the clinical impact of digital health technologies. The course also seeks to foster collaboration among digital health researchers through a shared knowledge base and learning opportunities, offering virtual group sessions every other week over 8 sessions for faculty, staff, and trainees across the Feinberg School of Medicine and beyond.
The course was created in response to growing demand from researchers at Feinberg who wanted to learn HCD methods to inform digital health interventions. It was initially developed by Andrea Graham, PhD, and Emily Lattie, PhD, and launched in 2021. “CBITs is a leader in applying human-centered design methods to digital mental and behavioral health interventions to improve their engagement and clinical impact. We established this course to build a foundational understanding of these methods among other clinical scientists and grow a community of researchers with a shared vision for using innovative methodologies in digital health research,” explains Dr. Graham.
The reading course was developed through CBITs’ NIMH-supported P50 ALACRITY Center and its Dissemination Workgroup and was modeled after Feinberg’s successful Implementation Science Reading Course. CBITs also partnered with the Northwestern University Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS) to establish a certificate program for the course, to formally recognize participants' training in HCD methods for digital health research.
Over the course's eight-week structure, participants explore the key stages of the HCD process, from understanding user needs to prototyping and evaluating digital interventions. In addition, the course helps participants design for successful implementation, write grants that propose HCD methods, and publish papers incorporating HCD approaches. The format is discussion-driven, with assigned and recommended readings and a focus on collaborative problem-solving.
Kaylee Kruzan, PhD, current course co-leader, explains, “It is designed to be accessible to anyone who is interested in using and applying design methods in research aimed at developing or implementing health interventions. We encourage people from all different career stages to share their expertise and to have a beginner’s mind.” This approach allows researchers from various career stages to come together, share experiences, and learn from one another.
Looking to the future, the course leaders aim to expand its offerings and continue to support the growing interest in HCD methods in digital health. “This course reliably trains dozens of researchers each year in the theory, principles, and methods of HCD,” says Andrew Berry, PhD, current course co-leader. “In the future, we aim to expand on the introductory and discussion-based format of this course with additional courses that provide more hands-on experience with HCD methods.”
To stay informed about the Design for Digital Health Reading Course and future sessions, visit the Education & Events page on our website.
Written by Izabella Golley