P. Forbrig and F. Paternò (Eds.): HCSE/TAMODIA 2008, LNCS 5247, pp. 229–236, 2008. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2008 Concepts for Analysis and Design of Mobile Healthcare Applications Joseph McKnight 1 , Gavin Doherty 1 , Bridget Kane 1,2 , and Saturnino Luz 1 1 Department of Computer Science, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland 2 Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St. James's Hospital, Dublin Abstract. In complex domains such as healthcare, careful analysis of user re- quirements is an important aspect of the development process. In recent years, ethnographic study has become a popular tool for building up an understanding of the healthcare domain. However, linking observational data with the design and development process is a challenging problem. A range of conceptual frameworks have been proposed which can aid in transforming these data into concrete requirements. In this paper, we argue that the framework and associ- ated design concepts used will have a strong influence on shaping the outcome of design, and that the development team should consider carefully which are most appropriate to the problem they face. We use a case study based around a patient review process as an illustrative example. Keywords: Conceptual Analysis, Concepts, Healthcare, Ethnographic Study, Mobility. 1 Introduction The healthcare environment raises many challenges for design, with many different roles and stakeholders involved, safety critical tasks being performed, large volumes of information, and highly mobile workers carrying out their activities in a variety of different settings. Standard user-centered design processes can be difficult to apply to such complex work environments, and while techniques such as participatory design are useful they are not going to fully address the problem [7]. In recent years, ethnographic studies have become a popular tool for getting to grips with the complexity of the healthcare environment, with a number of projects producing ethnographically-informed designs. Take-up has been such that commer- cially driven initiatives are now making use of these techniques. Typically, an obser- vational investigation will yield a lot of information on the different users, working practices, activities as they currently happen, use of artefacts and information. How- ever such studies do not necessarily produce actual design guidance, and in particular they are not a sufficient basis for reasoning about the effects of changes on the work, the workers, and the environment. These are dynamic environments, and are subject to many external factors, including evolving "best practice", changing regulations and organizational structures, and continuous upgrading of information systems.