Human-Machine Interfaces in Health: A Critical Review and Framework of Human-Centered Design Practices
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61467/2007.1558.2026.v17i3.1285Keywords:
human-machine interfaces, usability, accessibility, user-centered design, digital health, patient safety, interfaces hombre-máquina, usabilidad, accesibilidad, salud digital, seguridad del pacienteAbstract
The design of human-machine interfaces (HMIs) in healthcare is a determining factor for the safety, efficiency, and accessibility of medical technologies worldwide. This article presents a structured review of the scientific and regulatory literature published to 2025, with the main objective of identifying the principles, limitations, and best practices applicable to the development of interactive systems in the healthcare sector. This analysis integrates a range of contributions from biomedical engineering, cognitive ergonomics, and user-centered design, highlighting key challenges associated with technological complexity and user diversity. Based on this review, a best practice framework is proposed, consisting of four pillars: visual design, interaction and control, accessibility and inclusion, and continuous evaluation. This framework translates international standards into a series of operational actions that strengthen patient safety and promote a more humanistic and inclusive design focused on the user. The results presented here demonstrate the need to consolidate a set of interdisciplinary methodologies that guarantee usability and equity in technological innovation in health.
Spanish-language metadata / Metadatos en español
Título en español:
Interfaces hombre-máquina en el ámbito de la salud: una revisión crítica y un marco de prácticas de diseño centrado en las personas
Resumen:
El diseño de las interfaces hombre-máquina (IHM) en el ámbito de la salud es un factor determinante para la seguridad, la eficiencia y la accesibilidad de las tecnologías médicas en todo el mundo. Este artículo presenta una revisión estructurada de la literatura científica y normativa publicada hasta 2025, con el objetivo principal de identificar los principios, las limitaciones y las mejores prácticas aplicables al desarrollo de sistemas interactivos en el sector de la salud. Este análisis integra una serie de aportaciones procedentes de la ingeniería biomédica, la ergonomía cognitiva y el diseño centrado en el usuario, y pone de relieve los principales retos asociados a la complejidad tecnológica y la diversidad de los usuarios. A partir de esta revisión, se propone un marco de mejores prácticas que se sustenta en cuatro pilares: diseño visual, interacción y control, accesibilidad e inclusión, y evaluación continua. Este marco traduce las normas internacionales en una serie de medidas operativas que refuerzan la seguridad del paciente y promueven un diseño más humanista e inclusivo centrado en el usuario. Los resultados aquí presentados ponen de manifiesto la necesidad de consolidar un conjunto de metodologías interdisciplinarias que garanticen la usabilidad y la equidad en la innovación tecnológica en el ámbito de la salud.
Palabras Claves:
interfaces hombre-máquina, usabilidad, accesibilidad, diseño centrado en el usuario, salud digital, seguridad del paciente
Smart citations:
https://scite.ai/reports/10.61467/2007.1558.2026.v17i3.1285
Dimensions.
Open Alex.
References
Amiri, Z. (2024). Leveraging AI-enabled information systems for healthcare management. Journal of Computer Information Systems. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2024.2414216
Carayon, P., Schoofs Hundt, A., Karsh, B.-T., Gurses, A. P., Alvarado, C. J., Smith, M., & Flatley Brennan, P. (2006). Work system design for patient safety: The SEIPS model. Quality & Safety in Health Care, 15(Suppl. 1), i50–i58. https://doi.org/10.1136/qshc.2005.015842
Cummings, M. L., Roff, H. M., Cukier, K., Parakilas, J., & Bryce, H. (2018). Artificial Intelligence and International Affairs: Disruption Anticipated. Chatham House.
Dakulagi, V., Yeap, K. H., Nisar, H., Dakulagi, R., Basavaraj, G. N., & Galindo, M. V. (2025). An overview of techniques and best practices to create intuitive and user-friendly human-machine interfaces. In Artificial Intelligence and Multimodal Signal Processing in Human-Machine Interaction (pp. 63–77). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-29150-0.00002-0
Dutta, N., & Dhar, D. (2025). Investigating usability of conversational user interfaces for integrated system-physical interactions: A medical device perspective. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 41(1), 271–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2023.2298534
International Organization for Standardization. (2019). ISO 9241-210:2019: Ergonomics of human-system interaction—Part 210: Human-centred design for interactive systems. ISO.
Janß, A., Benzko, J., Merz, P., Dell’Anna, J., Strake, M., & Radermacher, K. (2021). Development of medical device UI-profiles for reliable and safe human-machine-interaction in the integrated operating room of the future. In Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics Conference. AHFE International. https://doi.org/10.54941/ahfe100507
Johnson, T. R., Thimbleby, H., Killoran, P., & Diaz-Garelli, F. (2024). Human-Computer Interaction in Medical Devices. In A. W. Kushniruk, D. R. Kaufman, T. G. Kannampallil, & V. L. Patel (Eds.), Human Computer Interaction in Healthcare: The Role of Cognition (pp. 319–343). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69947-4_13
Kushniruk, A. W., & Borycki, E. M. (Eds.). (2008). Human, social, and organizational aspects of health information systems. IGI Global.
Langote, M., Saratkar, S., Kumar, P., Verma, P., Puri, C., Gundewar, S., & Gourshettiwar, P. (2024). Human–computer interaction in healthcare: Comprehensive review. AIMS Bioengineering, 11(3), 343–390. https://doi.org/10.3934/bioeng.2024018
Leong, W. Y., Leong, Y. Z., & Leong, W. S. (2023). Human-machine interaction in biomedical manufacturing. In 2023 IEEE 5th Eurasia Conference on IoT, Communication and Engineering (ECICE) (pp. 939–944). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ECICE59523.2023.10383070
Matias, S. M. M. (2025). Human-machine interfaces: A dual perspective on innovation and complexity. In Proceedings of the 2025 9th International Conference on Robotics and Automation Sciences (ICRAS) (pp. 1–6). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICRAS65818.2025.11108939
Nielsen, J. (1993). Usability engineering. Morgan Kaufmann.
Norman, D. A. (2013). The design of everyday things (Rev. and expanded ed.). Basic Books.
Or, C. K., Holden, R. J., & Valdez, R. S. (2022). Human factors engineering and user-centered design for mobile health technology: Enhancing effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction. In V. G. Duffy, M. Ziefle, P.-L. P. Rau, & M. M. Tseng (Eds.), Human-Automation Interaction: Mobile Computing (pp. 97–118). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10788-7_6
Shahraki, Z. A., & Nafchi, M. A. (2023). The Role of a Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) System on the Medical Devices. In R. Malviya, S. Sundram, B. Prajapati, & S. K. Singh (Eds.), Human-Machine Interface: Making Healthcare Digital (pp. 183–210). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394200344.ch7
Shneiderman, B., & Plaisant, C. (2010). Designing the user interface: Strategies for effective human-computer interaction (5th ed.). Pearson.
Singh, A. K., & Malviya, R. (2023). Human-Machine Interface and Patient Safety. In R. Malviya, S. Sundram, B. Prajapati, & S. K. Singh (Eds.), Human-Machine Interface: Making Healthcare Digital (pp. 59–88). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394200344.ch3
Tase, A., Buckle, P., Ni, M. Z., & Hanna, G. B. (2024). Usability of home use medical technology: The patient perspective. Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management, 29(2), 83–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/25160435241230143
Verma, A., Chouhan, A. P. S., Singh, V., Singh, L., Suklabaidya, G., Sharma, A., & Verma, P. (2025). Security and privacy in human-machine interaction for healthcare. In Artificial Intelligence and Multimodal Signal Processing in Human-Machine Interaction (pp. 377–392). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-29150-0.00006-8
Wiklund, M. E., Kendler, J., Hochberg, L., & Weinger, M. B. (2015). Technical basis for user interface design of health IT (NIST GCR 15-996). National Institute of Standards and Technology. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.GCR.15-996
Yilmaz, O., Stegemann, D., Radermacher, K., Lange, M., & Janß, A. (2025). Integrating machine-readable user interface requirements into open networked operating rooms. Frontiers in Digital Health, 7, Article 1520584. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2025.1520584
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 International Journal of Combinatorial Optimization Problems and Informatics
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
