Business Reasons to Prioritize Human Factors in Medical Device Design

Evidence suggests that many medical device manufacturers are reluctant to conduct elective human factors activities or user research of any kind until they are compelled to do so by regulatory requirements. This reportedly stems from a communication gap between human factors practitioners and other disciplines regarding whether and how adopting a user-centered design approach benefits the broader corporate agenda. The goal of this article is to help bridge this gap by highlighting entirely practical business reasons to prioritize human factors throughout the medical device design process. This contribution thus supports internal advocacy efforts and promotes best practices across the industry.