Typical Problems with Developing Mobile Applications for Health Care - Some Lessons Learned from Developing User-centered Mobile Applications in a Hospital Environment

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the experiences gained during the design, development and implementation of mobile applications for use within the clinical domain. Current problems and issues that arose during the development of the software are documented and discussed. Medical professionals' opinions, both medical doctors and nurses, and their input were coupled with front end development (user interface design) and back end development (software engineering) to decide on the most optimum development path and to select the most appropriate environments. Most of all, this project can be seen as a further example that User-Centered Development (UCD) is necessary, however it is not sufficient when developing mobile, cross-platform, and future-proof applications for medicine and health care.