Healthcare technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, yet one timeless challenge remains: patients won’t benefit from innovations they don’t use. Even the most effective medical device or digital health app can fall short if patients aren’t engaged or motivated to use it consistently. Behavior change design is emerging as the key to bridging this gap. By weaving behavioral science into product design, MedTech companies are transforming patient habits—and in turn, patient outcomes. But what does this mean in practice? Let’s explore how behavior change design works and why it’s becoming indispensable in the MedTech industry.
The human behavior gap in healthcare
Imagine a patient, Elena, who’s been prescribed a life-saving medication and a companion health app. The technology exists to help her, but after a few weeks, Elena stops taking the pills regularly and barely opens the app. She’s not alone. Research shows that human behavior plays a huge role in health outcomes—health behaviors are estimated to account for about 40% of annual deaths in the U.S. (Social Determinants and Health Behaviors: Conceptual Frames and Empirical Advances – PMC). In other words, lifestyle choices, adherence to treatments, and daily habits can matter as much as medical interventions. Yet, influencing those behaviors is hard.
Non-adherence and disengagement are pervasive. The World Health Organization famously reported that among patients with chronic illness, roughly 50% do not take medications as prescribed (Medication Adherence: WHO Cares? – PMC). This isn’t just frustrating—it’s dangerous. Poor adherence leads to higher morbidity, hospitalizations, and healthcare costs. As Hippocrates observed over two millennia ago, even the best treatments fail if patients don’t follow through (Medication Adherence: WHO Cares? – PMC). For MedTech innovators, the lesson is clear: developing a device or software that works is only half the battle; ensuring patients use it effectively is the other half.
What is behavior change design?
Behavior change design (also known as behavioral design in healthcare) is a multidisciplinary approach to encourage healthy user behaviors through thoughtful product design. It combines insights from psychology, behavioral economics, and human-centered design to positively influence patients’ habits, activities, and attitudes (Designing for behavior change helps digital healthcare system | ZS). Rather than expecting patients to adapt to technology, the technology is designed around the realities of patient behavior.
In practice, this means MedTech designers ask questions like: What might motivate a patient like Elena to take her medication every day? What could make a health app so intuitive and rewarding that she wants to use it regularly? The answers often lie in small design choices that drive big behavior changes. For example, BJ Fogg’s Behavior Model suggests that behavior happens when motivation, ability, and a prompt converge at the same moment (Improving patient engagement through behavioral design – MedCity News). In Elena’s case, the app might send a friendly reminder (prompt) when it’s time to take her pill, ensure the task is easy to do (ability, e.g. one-tap logging), and use encouraging messaging or rewards to keep her motivated.
Another popular framework is the COM-B model, which stands for Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavior. According to COM-B, to perform a behavior a person must 1) feel capable of doing it, 2) have the opportunity (the right environment and tools), and 3) be motivated (The COM-B Model for Behavior Change – The Decision Lab). A behavior change-designed intervention would address all three. For instance, a diabetes management app could boost capability by educating patients in simple language, creating opportunities by integrating seamlessly into daily routines (like sending insulin reminders at meal times) and increasing motivation through progress charts or social support groups within the app.
Crucially, behavior change design isn’t about one-size-fits-all solutions. It’s deeply patient-centric, often involving patients in the design process. (In fact, it closely aligns with patient-centered design, which focuses on tailoring solutions to patients’ unique needs and preferences (Basic guide for implementing patient-centered design into Software as Medical Device – Aura Health). Incorporating these design principles from the start ensures the end product resonates with real users’ lives.) By understanding the barriers—be they forgetfulness, fear, complexity, or lack of feedback—designers craft features that gently nudge patients toward healthier routines.
Why MedTech needs behavior change design?
Traditional medtech development excelled at clinical efficacy and engineering feats. However many early digital health tools failed to gain traction because they overlooked the human element. It’s not enough to create a device that can improve outcomes; we must also consider how patients will interact with it day-to-day. Here’s where behavior change design proves its value:
Enhanced patient engagement: Behavioral design techniques can dramatically improve how engaged patients are with their treatments. For example, continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) for diabetes not only provide data but also leverage behavioral insights to keep patients involved. Research shows that patients using CGMs (versus manual finger-prick tests) have better glycemic control and are more likely to follow their treatment regimens (Improving patient engagement by integrating medical devices data – Aura Health). The real-time feedback and gentle alerts from CGMs turn glucose monitoring into a more interactive, almost game-like experience, motivating patients to stay on track.
Better adherence through smart design: Consider medication management. Something as simple as a smart pill bottle that glows or beeps at dosage time, or an app that congratulates you for meeting your pill schedule, can significantly raise adherence rates. Behavioral nudges—like prompts, streak counters, or rewarding messages—tap into our natural tendencies to form habits. When a MedTech solution intelligently reminds and rewards the desired behavior, patients are less likely to drift away from their care plan.
Personalization and human-centric experience: Behavior change design often involves personalization, which makes medical tech feel less like a cold device and more like a supportive companion. A nebulizer for asthma, for instance, might include an app that learns a patient’s routine and stressors and then offers tailored breathing exercises or encouragement at just the right times. By addressing patients as people with daily lives (not just as data points), MedTech products become more relatable and easier to integrate into those lives. This human-centric approach is at the core of patient-centered design – a methodology that actively involves patients in creating solutions they will use.
Bridging the “last mile” of efficacy: We often talk about the “last mile” in healthcare—the gap between having an effective treatment and the patient benefiting from it. Behavior change design is what helps MedTech cross that last mile. It could be through gamification (turning a rehabilitation exercise into a fun challenge), social support features (connecting users to peer communities or coach feedback), or simply making the user interface so intuitive that using the device/app is effortless rather than frustrating. By lowering every possible barrier to use and adding elements of delight or encouragement, MedTech solutions can maintain long-term engagement. In turn, consistent usage leads to better health outcomes.
Evidence that works
Skeptics might ask: do these design tweaks make a measurable difference in patient outcomes? The evidence is increasingly saying yes. A 2023 umbrella review examining dozens of digital health interventions found strong evidence that well-designed digital interventions can improve health outcomes across chronic conditions (Effective Behavior Change Techniques in Digital Health Interventions for the Prevention or Management of Noncommunicable Diseases: An Umbrella Review – PMC). In patients with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and more, those using digitally delivered behavior change programs saw improvements in key health metrics (like blood pressure control, blood sugar levels, weight management, and medication adherence) compared to those who did not.
Importantly, the most effective interventions tended to include techniques like prompts/cues, social support, and credible educational content (Effective Behavior Change Techniques in Digital Health Interventions for the Prevention or Management of Noncommunicable Diseases: An Umbrella Review – PMC)—all core components of behavior change design.
Even industry leaders have noticed. McKinsey & Company has dubbed behavioral design “the next frontier in healthcare value,” emphasizing its potential to solve persistent patient engagement problems and improve adherence to treatments (Improving patient engagement through behavioral design—MedCity News). In other words, investing in behavior change design could unlock greater value than even the next breakthrough drug or device alone because it amplifies the real-world impact of every healthcare innovation.
Real-world success stories are emerging: digital therapeutics for mental health that use cognitive behavioral techniques to keep patients practicing coping skills daily; virtual cardiac rehab programs that significantly boost participation by incorporating goal-setting and feedback loops; and medication reminder apps that have reduced hospital readmissions in heart failure patients by ensuring they stick with complex medication regimens. In each case, the technology’s success hinged not just on clinical content but on how well it engaged and guided the human being using it.
One illustrative example is a study on a behavior-change-focused asthma management platform. Patients were given smart inhalers paired with an app that provided personalized tips and positive reinforcement for daily usage. Over months, adherence to preventive inhaler use improved markedly, leading to fewer asthma exacerbations. The key was that the app didn’t simply track inhaler use; it coached users with empathy, celebrated good streaks, and reminded them in context (like a morning reminder tied to their routine). This kind of outcome—healthier patients with fewer emergencies—was achieved by making healthy behavior the path of least resistance.
Integrating behavior change design into MedTech development
For MedTech companies, adopting behavior change design requires a shift in mindset and process. It means bringing in experts in psychology and user experience early in product development, and often it means co-designing solutions with patients. Techniques such as patient interviews, journey mapping, and usability testing with a focus on emotional and behavioral barriers are invaluable. At Aura Health, for example, our approach to developing digital health solutions for chronic care always includes these human-centered steps. We recognize that a solution will only succeed if it fits seamlessly into a patient’s life and truly empowers them to take charge of their health.
Some key principles to implement behavior change design in practice include:
Understand the user’s world: Spend time learning about the daily lives, challenges, and motivations of your end users (patients and even clinicians). What does a day in their lives look like? Where might your device or app fit in or fall out? Empathy is the foundation; as the saying goes, “Nothing about me without me.” Engaging patients as partners often reveals the hidden reasons a technology might succeed or fail.
Use evidence-based techniques: When brainstorming features, lean on proven behavioral science strategies. This could mean applying models like COM-B or Fogg’s B=MAP. For instance, if you know motivation might dip over time, build in periodic rewards or novel content to re-engage users. If ability (ease of use) is a concern, invest in simplifying the UI and reducing steps. Ground your design choices in what research has shown to work (such as the power of social support, timely prompts, and goal-setting).
Iterate and personalize: Behavior change is not one-size-fits-all, so design flexibility into your product. Allow personalization—let Elena choose if she prefers gentle nudges via text or a more game-like interface with points and badges. Test different approaches through pilot programs. Collect engagement data and user feedback, and be ready to iterate. Continuous improvement is part of a behavior-centric design process, refining the experience to better drive the desired actions.
Measure what matters: Define success metrics that go beyond traditional clinical endpoints. Of course, improved patient outcomes (lower A1c, lower blood pressure, etc.) are the ultimate goal. But also measure engagement indicators such as daily active use, adherence rates, or patient satisfaction scores. These are the early signs that your behavior change design is working. If engagement is high, improved outcomes will likely follow (Designing for behavior change helps the digital healthcare system | ZS). By tracking both, you can draw connections between design enhancements and health impacts. This data closes the loop, showing stakeholders – from developers to payers – the ROI of a human-centered approach.
Designing technology with the patient in mind
The MedTech industry stands at an exciting intersection of cutting-edge technology and age-old human nature. Behavior change design is proving to be the linchpin that connects the two, ensuring that innovations in healthcare truly reach their potential in practice. By recognizing that patient behavior is as critical a component as any algorithm or hardware, we can design solutions that not only treat diseases but also empower individuals to live healthier lives.
For healthcare providers and MedTech professionals, embracing behavior change design means shifting from a product-centric mindset to a patient-centric one. It’s about asking not just “What can this technology do?” but also “Will people actually do this, and how can we help them want to do it?” The payoff for asking these questions is enormous. Engaged patients experience better outcomes, which in turn validates the product’s value, improves compliance with care protocols, and even enhances business metrics for providers and developers. In short, everybody wins.
Aura Health believes that the future of chronic care lies in this blend of innovative technology and human-centered design. Our collaborations in digital health always strive to marry clinical effectiveness with engaging, user-friendly experiences. The results are digital health solutions that patients don’t abandon after a week, but instead stick with for the long haul—ultimately transforming their health outcomes for the better.
Incorporating behavior change design is no longer just a nice-to-have in MedTech; it’s fast becoming a standard of care. As you look to develop or implement the next medical app, device, or platform, consider how its design can inspire real behavior change. The true measure of success isn’t just whether the technology works in a clinical trial, but whether it changes life in the real world. As we’ve seen, when technology is designed with an understanding heart and a behavioral lens, it can indeed change lives—one healthy habit at a time.
References
Short & Mollborn. Curr Opin Psychol. 2015 – “Health behaviors… account for about 40% of deaths in the U.S. annually.” (Social Determinants and Health Behaviors: Conceptual Frames and Empirical Advances – PMC)
Sabaté E, ed. WHO Adherence Report. 2003 – Approximately 50% of patients with chronic diseases do not take medications as prescribed. ( Medication Adherence: WHO Cares? – PMC)
Mair et al. Transl Behav Med. 2023 – Digital health interventions (DHIs) are effective in improving health outcomes for patients with cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and asthma, and in promoting behaviors like physical activity, healthy diet, and medication adherence. (Effective Behavior Change Techniques in Digital Health Interventions for the Prevention or Management of Noncommunicable Diseases: An Umbrella Review – PMC)
Olsen R. MedCityNews. 2019 – McKinsey has dubbed behavioral design “the next frontier in healthcare value,” underlining its role in improving patient engagement and adherence for better outcomes. (Improving patient engagement through behavioral design – MedCity News)