Diversity by Design

Diversity by Design - How cultural nuance should influence VHA design

‍Too often, diversity is pigeonholed into recruitment. Hiring diverse is good for business, it’s good for business to hire diverse. Got it. And while this is 100% the case - diversity can be so much more. On this week’s FLAVVRR of the week, we’d like to shine a light on diversity by design. And we’re going to apply this fascinating concept to one of the most exciting innovations we’re seeing in the healthcare space - Virtual Health Assistants. 

‍Diversity by Design So what’s diversity by design? According to Artefact Group, it means including people from different backgrounds, experiences, and abilities during the design process to create more universally useful products.Familiar symptoms surface when exploring diversity in design when compared to “diversity” as a whole - global market fit, real customer empathy, and true innovation.

AI-Powered Virtual Health Assistants (VHAs)
‍If you read our newsletter, FLAVVRR of the week, y’all will already know that Virtual Health Assistants (VHAs) are software programs designed to support users with healthcare-related tasks, provide medical info, and personalized support. Now, AI-powered VHAs leverage Artificial intelligence (AI), such as Machine Learning (ML) and natural language processing to bring about even more personalized experiences to patients. How exciting. With the groundbreaking integration of Generative AI Customer Service, these assistants have undergone incredible evolution, becoming exceptionally, well, human. Even better. So how could diversity by design make this medtech product revolutionary?

‍Diversity by Design in VHAs
‍Applying diversity by design to VHAs is all about recognizing the diversity of a patient's background, health needs, and preferences, and influencing this technology toward equitable health outcomes.  For instance, in America, where 40% of people identify as racial or ethnic minorities (Kaiser Family Foundation), ensuring a diverse representation of demographic and health-related data used to train VHAs is important. It could forever remove bias and exclusion from this stage of patient care.  In an America where it is proven that language and cultural barriers contribute drastically to disparate health outcomes, VHAs designed to communicate in multiple languages will serve our diverse population. Not every nurse or doctor can be multilingual, but every VHA can. Additionally, ensuring technological proficiency, fostering racial diversity in virtual medical consultations, and promoting inclusivity in research and design teams are critical spaces where VHAS may bridge the gap. Finally, when around 10 million people in the US, or one in seven individuals, have some form of learning disability (National Center for Learning Disabilities), features such as voice commands, text-to-speech, and other accessibility options could accommodate the diverse needs found across our nation. This technology could, and should, be accessible for all. These are just a few of the considerations diversity in design could make VHAs life-changing for both patients and carers. And so many more innovations can be found by including unique points of view in its design process. 

‍Diversity and tech go hand in hand
‍Because the truth is that all tech is fundamentally flawed without diverse voices. If we are to truly design with empathy and in service to better outcomes, we need a variety of voices, perspectives, and experiences at the table. We don’t get to decide what is a good fit for the communities we serve—they do. For that, we need real connections with these communities, so we can surface their needs authentically, free from bias.