Medical design and UX/UI for the new generation of Belimed washer-disinfectors

Challenge: Translating the requirements of sterile processing into a safe new user experience

Belimed is a global provider of cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization solutions for healthcare facilities as well as the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. In this safety-critical environment, equipment for sterile processing and infection control must meet the highest standards of reliability and safe operation. With its new generation of equipment, Belimed wanted to provide much closer support for workflows in hospital sterile processing departments. This includes, for example, tracking surgical instruments throughout the hospital. Previously, this was only possible with extensive management software, which represented a significant effort, particularly for smaller hospitals. No comparable solution had previously been available on the market. At the same time, the interface had to accommodate very different user groups. A key challenge was therefore to align the operation of the equipment with these different workflows and requirements.

Approach: Agile and user-centered from user journey analysis and prototyping through implementation

To understand the requirements for the new user experience, Milani’s UX team conducted user research and ethnographic studies in hospitals, accompanying different users in their day-to-day work and analyzing their needs.  Based on these insights, Milani gathered and structured the requirements and examined the relevant user flows. Milani explored the user flows through different concepts before translating them into wireframes. The interface had to accommodate very different user groups, from busy healthcare professionals focused on speed to safety experts who need access to comprehensive data. Milani evaluated the concepts with users through user testing and iteratively refined them based on the findings.

Building on this work, Milani developed the interface’s look and feel and aligned its visual design with the Belimed brand identity. Implementation was carried out in close collaboration with the Belimed team and an external development team. The Scrum process made it possible to manage the high level of complexity step by step, continuously review intermediate results, and collaboratively refine the solution through implementation.