Photo by Sami Sadeghi on Unsplash

Medical UX

Medical UX is a huge and highly important field. Because of the nature of the work, many people are often petrified to enter the medical space — mistakes here matter and missteps can kill people.

There is a huge market for medical UX for many of the other items on this list — compliance with regulations, rules, and recommendations is a complicated and difficult job. There is a lot that can be gained from creating products in the medical UX field, as well as there being a lot to lose.

One of the biggest draws to the medical UX field is that you can create real differences in people’s lives. Insulin pumps, medication delivery, blood pressure monitors — there are a lot of products in the medical space that can use design thinking to make the processes less obtuse and easier to manage.

Here are my recommendations if you want to pursue medical UX:

• There is plenty of literature surrounding error in healthcare and the medical field — reading even one book would you make you more aware than the average person.
• Apply to adjacent vocations — if you currently work creating B2B products, finding roles that are adjacent to that type of work will make it easier to show hiring managers how your skills might apply.

Legal UX

Legal UX comes in two-fold: Firstly, one can use their knowledge of human factors to advise a legal team that needs an expert to testify for their case or work on their case.

There is also a rising interest in Legal Designers, who combine their knowledge of law and passion for design to create products for the legal space — crafting a more accessible experience to the layman or those unaware of the legal system. This unique intersection requires a hybrid combination of vocations, as it may be difficult to create in such a complex space without the prerequisite knowledge.

Accessibility

Accessibility, especially in the product space, is an important and fulfilling role in which one can design experiences that are more accessible for those with disabilities.

Some of these concepts are already baked into your work, such as making font sizes a base of 16pts for those with low-vision or with dyslexia. Some of the amazing realms are accessibility design are as follows:

• For people with visual impairments, such as those who are blind or low-vision
• For people who are deaf or hard of hearing
• For people with motor dysfunction, such as Parkinson's disease
• For people with physical disabilities, such as in cases of limb loss

The best thing about specializing in accessible design is that, eventually, we will all need it at one point or another. In cases of temporary or situational disability, such as a broken arm, or when your arms are holding a baby, having a layout that can be used with one hand on your smartphone proves useful. As we age, becoming disabled is more of a guarantee than a suggestion — age-related macular degeneration is one common disability that eventually affects us all.

Data Visualization

Data visualization is a complex field of design that specifically focuses on the way information is presented to analysts and users. While often designed for high-stakes situations, such as the dashboard for a heart-rate monitor, this profession can also be applied to any product space.

If you’re the kind of person who loves to make dashboards, play with data, and create charts, then this space might be a good fit for you.

Gamification

There are plenty of situations where game design plays a role in how people interact with an application or product — and most of these aren’t even games.

One prime example that many car companies have adopted is displaying a driving score after the end of each trip — bragging about your 98/100 compared to your boyfriend’s best 92/100 not only makes you more aware of fuel-efficient practices and how much you’re using the AC not only increases the life of the car and make you a better driver but also adds a fun element to an otherwise monotonous and boring task.

While this field may not be applicable to every field, there are still places where gamification is appropriate and even beneficial to the user!