Beyond data logs: Capturing the true experience of medical devices in the home

Healthcare has been steadily moving out of the clinic and into the home. McKinsey estimates that by 2025, as much as $265 billion in care — nearly a quarter of all Medicare spending — could shift from facilities to homes. From sleep monitors to blood glucose trackers to connected devices that support chronic disease management, patients and caregivers are now bringing healthcare technology into their kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms.

The technology itself can be complex, but what is often overlooked are the human moments surrounding it. Unpack a new device, read the instructions carefully (sometimes written like IKEA instructions), and understand the first alert or reminder. These are the touch points where trust is built or lost, and they rarely show up in usage logs.

We see this dynamic every day on TikTok and YouTube, where “unboxing” videos of everything from sneakers to skin care products receive millions of views. People are fascinated by the first contact with a product, such as packaging, instructions, and ease (or frustration) of getting started. Healthcare devices may never go viral in the same way, but the principle still applies: unboxing is often the first and most memorable impression.

Currently, most feedback loops stop at the provider or machine. The device can send information back to the doctor, but the data doesn't explain how the experience feels. Do these instructions make sense? Does this setting feel powerful or overwhelming? Are caregivers able to support patients with confidence? Without this context, healthcare teams miss details that impact compliance, satisfaction, and long-term outcomes.

capture life experience

Newer research methods are helping fill in the gaps that traditional reports miss: what it's actually like to bring devices into your home.

Patients and caregivers can keep what I call a “modern journal,” recording brief entries every time the device is used, whether triggered by an app’s event notifications, prompted by a text notification, or simply when something noteworthy happens. Online communities allow people to share these experiences over time, creating an ongoing conversation that shows how early impressions change with regular use. Conversational tools, including AI-driven prompts, allow you to explore not just what happened, but how it felt.

These methods capture small but important moments, such as the confusion of a setup, the sense of relief when an alarm works, or even the frustration when an instruction doesn't make sense. These moments can ultimately determine whether a device becomes part of someone's daily life or falls by the wayside.

These insights will also be valuable to payers and regulators. They provide a clearer picture of availability, education gaps, and caregiver burden without going into promotional territory. They help brands refine support materials, reduce barriers to compliance, and demonstrate real-world value in ways that traditional surveys or machine data cannot.

How research methods need to change

To keep up with the shift in healthcare to the home, insights teams should rethink their approach:

• Listen in real time. Use a mobile-first approach so patients and caregivers can share reactions as they occur. A brief diary captured during the setup process or a quick note after the first alert will be more enlightening than feedback gathered weeks later when the details have become hazy.
• Capturing the voices of caregivers. Many experiences are experienced with caregivers rather than patients. Incorporating them into feedback loops highlights barriers that rarely appear in clinical data. For example, a daughter who manages her mother's medical equipment might explain that navigating the carrier portal causes her more stress than the condition itself. For her, the burden isn't necessarily disease management, but the daily struggle with a poorly designed system.
• Focus on emotion, not just functionality. AI-powered conversational research can reveal whether instructions are reassuring or confusing, or whether alerts feel helpful or stressful. Patients may describe the first notification from a glucose monitor as “more shocking than the condition itself,” highlighting that design choices can impact not only behavior but also trust.
• Create an ongoing community. Longitudinal feedback over weeks or months can reveal how first impressions evolve with continued use. Small frustrations like the charger feeling flimsy may disappear once a daily routine is established, while other issues like confusing alarms may complicate over time and lead to abandonment.
• Benchmarking and optimization. Compare results to industry norms to turn qualitative feedback into actionable strategies. Tracking whether onboarding goes more smoothly than average, or if indications fall below peers, gives teams concrete targets for improvement and provides a clearer way to demonstrate return on experience.

As care continues to move into the home, life moments like unboxing, setup, trial and error, and real-time use become as important as what happens in the clinic. If we want devices to be successful outside of the clinic, we need to start listening at home, where trust, confidence and habits are actually formed.

Photo: exdez, Getty Images

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