Platform Design: The Case of a Swedish Digital Healthcare Platform

Sammanfattning

In public healthcare, the platforms must balance user needs, regulatory requirements, and organizational structure which makes platform design rather challenging. While existing research on digital platforms has mainly focused on other sectors, less is known about platform design within public healthcare. To address this gap, this study investigates the key principles of platform design in public healthcare. Using a qualitative research design, this study is based on a single case study of Sweden's national healthcare platform. Empirical data were collected through semi-structured interviews with different actors in the healthcare ecosystem, including residents, healthcare professionals, usability experience designers, and regulatory experts. The study was guided by an analytical framework derived from the literature and integrated four key dimensions: value, healthcare specific aspects, web-design, and regulations. The findings identified key design principles which are: a foundation of trust and legitimacy, adapting the design to varying levels of health literacy, interfaces that guide rather than impress, shaping design choices after regulations, supporting independent use, and accessibility. The implications of this study support the design of digital platforms in healthcare by visualizing the complex environment healthcare operates within. It also broadens the literature on design of digital platforms in healthcare to help bridge the gap in the existing literature. In addition, it emphasizes the importance of broadening regulations to include requirements for adapting to varying levels of health literacy.