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Usability Engineering

Usability Engineering
for Medical Devices & Health Software

IEC 62366-1 · ISO 14971 · EU MDR · FDA Human Factors

Use errors cause real harm, and regulators expect evidence that your users can operate your device safely. We plan and run usability engineering for software medical devices, health software and AI-enabled devices, from use specification and use-risk analysis through formative studies to summative evaluation and the usability engineering file.

What We Cover
Use Specification
Users, tasks, environments and the way your device will really be used
Use-Risk Analysis
Use errors and hazardous situations, linked to your ISO 14971 risk file
Formative Studies
Early user testing that shapes the design while changes are cheap
Summative Evaluation
Evidence that representative users can use the device safely

From Use Specification to Summative Evaluation

IEC 62366-1 asks for a documented usability engineering process that runs alongside design and risk management. We support each step and keep the records consistent with your technical documentation.

Step 1

Use Specification

Intended users, use environments, patient population and the frequently used and safety-related functions of your software.

Step 2

Use-Risk Analysis

Task analysis, use errors, hazardous situations and risk controls, feeding the risk management file and the list of hazard-related use scenarios.

Step 3

Formative Evaluation

Design reviews, walkthroughs and early user studies on wireframes, prototypes and builds, with findings fed back into the design.

Step 4

Summative Evaluation

A protocol-driven study with representative users, analysis of every use error and close call, and a usability engineering file ready for review.

Watching Real Users Use Your Software

We design and run usability studies for software medical devices and health software: protocols, participant profiles, simulated-use scenarios, observation and analysis. Every finding links back to your use-risk analysis, so the evidence reads as one story.

Two clinicians looking together at a tablet during a usability session
Early Design

Formative Studies

Small, fast sessions on sketches, wireframes and prototypes that find problems before they reach code.

Validation

Summative Studies

Simulated-use studies with representative users to show that the hazard-related use scenarios are managed.

In Person or Remote

Flexible Delivery

Moderated sessions on-site or remotely, with the observation, recording and analysis set up around your device and users.

Where Software Use Errors Start

Software introduces use risks that hardware devices rarely face. We review interfaces for the patterns that most often lead to harm and design controls that work in practice.

Hand-drawn app wireframes spread across a table during a design review

Data Entry & Units

Dose, weight and measurement entry, default values, units and range checks.

Alerts & Decision Support

Alarm and alert design, information hierarchy and the risk of alert fatigue.

Onboarding & Instructions

First-use flows, in-app instructions for use and safety messages people actually read.

AI-Enabled Devices

How users interpret AI outputs, over-reliance on recommendations and effective human oversight, aligned with the emerging IEC 62366-3.

Use-Risk Analysis Template

A ready-to-use Excel workbook for use-related risk analysis, aligned to IEC 62366-1 and ISO 14971. It includes a Use Specification sheet, a Use-Risk Analysis that calculates risk before and after control, a hazard-related use scenario summary for summative planning, and editable severity and probability scales with a risk matrix. Three worked examples for a medication dose calculator app show the level of detail expected.

Our Usability Engineering SOP is also part of the QMS SOPs & Templates pack in the .

Planning a Usability Study?

Tell us about your device, your users and your timeline, and we will propose a usability engineering plan that fits your design and regulatory schedule.