Development of design principles for a Veterans’ digital health platform

Abstract: Digital health tools are often looked at as the answer to providing better care for patients by extending care into the home and community. However, these platforms too often fail to gain traction with their users, in part, because of a mismatch between the user’s expectations and their ultimate experience. Before launching into the design of a digital platform for Veterans living with chronic pain, this team of design researchers sought to understand how a digital platform can uniquely create value for Veterans. To inform design, the authors reviewed key pieces of literature and spoke with 48 Canadian Veterans (29 males, 19 females) to understand their experiences living with chronic pain and the ways in which digital tools intersect with those experiences. What resulted was a series of design principles that will guide the creation of a web-based chronic pain self-management platform tailored to Veterans.