Watson Oncology Expert Advisor
Media
Even though working at MD Anderson could have it's challenges, the lessons learned from working alongside Dr. Chin and the physicians were invaluable. Being able to observe how IBM, as a company, handled the responsibility of such an endeavor was a once in a life time opportunity. Working with Rob High, Chief Technology Officer, under John Kelly's (VP of Cognitive Solutions for IBM) leadership provided me the opportunity to understand the inner workings of a corporation beyond the realm of design.
What is Watson Oncology Expert Advisor?
OEA is an application that utilizes Watson's "natural language processing" (NLP) capabilities. With NLP, Watson is able to ingest an individual patient's genomic data and provide treatment options that match with the patient's genetic profile.
See the video.
My role and business objective
My role in the contract between IBM and MD Anderson was to provide user experience and visual design support in the creation of the Oncology Expert Advisor application.
The key users and how they were identified
A handful of cancer physicians at MD Anderson were assigned by the hospital administration to assist us in the design and implementation of the product. We worked with them on usability testing as well as the accuracy of Watson to select proper trials for the patients.
How I practiced IBM Design Thinking
My first day in Watson (this was before Watson Health existed) was spent in a boardroom at MDA in Houston meeting with physicians, hospital administration and a full team from IBM. I was new to the product and we already had a set of requirements. Design Thinking was not being used at that point.
The actions I took
Faced with a difficult client, Dr. Linda Chin, I was still adamant that Design Thinking practices be used in the lifecycle of this product. I set up a call with John Kelly, the VP for Watson Health. John is now Senior VP for cognitive solutions directly under Ginni Rometty, our CEO. Perhaps you caught his appearance on 60 minutes for the piece on AI in the healthcare industry?
At that point, I was not able to get MD Anderson established as a Hallmark project due to lack of management buy-in. Hallmark projects were the first to be shepherded through IBM using design thinking as a foundation. I kept trying.
What artifacts I created and the key principles I applied
Slowly, over the next two years, I began creating clickable prototypes and testing with the physicians at MDA. Once that feedback was documented, we had validation for WHY certain design decisions were made. This created an atmosphere for a “design-lead” user experience instead of one lead by development and hospital administration.