Design Thinking + Healthcare @ IBM

Astrid Chow

Senior UX Designer & User Researcher - Product Design Lead for Watson Health at IBM

IBM Watson

A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and Bentley University's MBA and MS HFID program, Astrid brings 12+ years of experience, initially in the consultancy world and then as a Product Design Lead on internal product teams developing analytic components for Blackboard and improving medication adherence native mobile applications for Specialty Pharmacy at CVS Health.



For the past 2+ years, Astrid has brought her passion for UX Product Design and Research to IBM Watson Health where she leads cross-disciplinary teams driving product design strategy on complex health applications that utilize IBM Watson's cognitive computing technology, such as Watson for Genomics, and most recently, developing best practices around consumer health leveraging behavior change methodologies.



From her work in AI and healthcare, Astrid has had the honor of sharing her work through her passion project at the intersection of ethics, technology and design in her presentation series "AI and Ethics: Designing for Healthcare", which she presented at the 2017 IA Summit and O'Reilly's AI Conference in San Francisco.

Andrea Barbarin

UX Research Lead

IBM Watson Health

I am a UX Research Lead at IBM Watson Health (Cambridge, MA). I use ethnographic methods to explore how information technology incorporating artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data can support health care providers (e.g., physicians, nurses, care managers, diabetes educators, health coaches) as they work with patients and caregivers in managing chronic illness.



As Research Lead I guide research design, data collection, and data analysis for cross-functional teams that comprise designers, product managers, and developers. I also promote user-centered design principles and advocate for users.



I received a PhD (Information) and MSI (UX Research) from the University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI). I studied human-computer interaction and health informatics. I used mixed methods (i.e., collected and analyzed qualitative and quantitative data) to identify user needs and understand how to design technologies that promote health and wellness.



My research interests span human-computer interaction, computer-supported cooperative work, social computing, and behavior change.



As an experienced attorney (International Telecommunications Law) I enjoy the challenge of product research and design in the context of complex laws and regulations. My previous legal experience has proven invaluable in conducting research (e.g., driving IRB applications, ensuring HIPAA compliance, etc.) in the highly regulated healthcare environment.



Areas of UX Research Experience:

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Clinical Decision Support, Electronic Health Records, Ethnography, Usability, Institutional Review Board (IRB), Literature Review, Machine Learning (ML), Mixed Methods, Patient Engagement, Qualitative Data, Qualtrics, Quantitative Data, Surveys, User-Centered Design.