Experience-Based Co-Design: Putting the Human at the Heart of Digital Health Innovation

"At its core, EBCD recognizes that the people who experience healthcare firsthand hold the most valuable insights into what works, what doesn’t, and what could be better."

"EBCD ensures that innovations aren’t just technically sound—they are also human-centered and aligned with the realities of patients’ everyday lives."

Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) is a powerful (and often underutilized) approach to improving healthcare systems and services by bringing patients and healthcare professionals together to co-create solutions based on their real-life experiences.

At its core, EBCD recognizes that the people who experience healthcare firsthand hold the most valuable insights into what works, what doesn’t, and what could be better.

It’s about getting as many stakeholders as possible in the same metaphorical (or physical!) room and integrating their voices in a meaningful way to design services, processes, and solutions that truly meet the needs of those who use them. For our purposes, I’m going to focus on the value of patients’ lived experiences as expert navigators of our healthcare landscape.

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In the context of digital health, EBCD is absolutely essential.

Too often, the focus of digital health solution development is on creating the “latest and greatest” technology with little input from the very people who will ultimately use them. Without patient input, products can miss the mark entirely, failing to address the real pain points and needs of patients.

EBCD ensures that innovations aren’t just technically sound—they are also human-centered and aligned with the realities of patients’ everyday lives.

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EBCD is at the heart of what I do as a patient experience (PX) and patient engagement (PE) strategist.

I help digital health innovators create solutions that are both effective and empathetic by building and integrating tailored patient engagement systems and mechanisms into their innovation roadmap – this can include forming patient advisory boards, curating patient feedback panels, organizing patient co-design workshops, and more, depending on my partners’ product and patient experience and engagement objectives.

By empowering my digital health partners with expert guidance gained from patients’ lived experiences, they can uncover valuable insights that often get overlooked in traditional design and development processes. These insights can make the difference between a “solid” and “exceptional” innovation, driving user engagement, retention, and overall sustainability.

Embracing EBCD is a clear path to success, for both digital health leaders and the patients who use their solutions.

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Meredith Mangold, CPXP is the Founder & CEO of Empower Health Strategies.