Liesa stands in a modern office and looks confidently at the camera

ZEISS Stories | Liesa

User-friendliness in medical technology

Digital Innovations

The struggle with ticket machines, incomprehensible forms on the internet or a designer coffee maker that cannot be operated without a manual – examples of bad UX can be found everywhere. UX stands for user experience and deals with the individual experience that people have, for example, with a product or when using software.

Poor user experiences are particularly annoying in everyday life. In the operating room, however, poor UX can be life-threatening. This can happen when surgeons do not intuitively understand the digital interface and use the wrong setting. Liesa conducts research and investigations to make sure this doesn't happen.

Liesa sits on a light blue sofa in a modern office and works on her laptop

Knowledge instead of compromise

"My job is to collect data that helps develop medical technology products and applications that are more intuitive, user-friendly and also more aesthetically pleasing," says Liesa, summing up her job as User Experience Research Lead in the ZEISS Medical Technology segment.

Traditional UX concepts are often created without involving real users, and are then usually nothing more than a compromise between engineering and design.

Liesa User Experience Research Lead

Liesa smiles as she walks through a bright, modern office and holds a laptop in her hand

ZEISS takes a different approach. Here, UX is the result of consistent development work that focuses on the user. This development work is based on a detailed examination of the requirements (research), their implementation in practical products (UX design) and the design of user-friendly interfaces (UI design). Liesa and her team take care of the research. They then pass their findings on to the ZEISS UX and UI design teams.

Form follows research

As a researcher, Liesa doesn't just work at her desk, but also in the areas where her products and solutions are used: in practices and clinics. "On site, we are able to talk directly to doctors and clinic staff and find out how they use our applications and what we can improve in terms of UX," Liesa explains.

Liesa stands in a bright, modern office. She looks confidently at the camera

From shop to operating room

After her sociology degree, Liesa started her research career at a large digital agency in Bavaria. Later, she researched facts and features related to the e-commerce platforms of a major media company. "But I missed a greater purpose in all of it. Encouraging purchases and generating sales – should that really be the goal of my work?" Liesa asked herself before her time at ZEISS.

One job ad changed everything: UX Design Lead wanted. "Even though my profile wasn't a perfect fit for the advertised position, the reaction at ZEISS was exceptional: you're a great fit for the team, and we'll create a new role for you. Typical ZEISS: agile and team-oriented. I can therefore only recommend to anyone and everyone to apply!"

Liesa with three colleagues in a meeting room

From web store to medical technology

Liesa's new focus and the goal of her work from this point on revolved around medical technology. As User Experience Research Lead, she and her team research the needs and requirements of medical professionals specifically in the fields of ophthalmology and microsurgery. As part of international and interdisciplinary teams, Liesa works on complex and innovative projects – for example, medical cloud projects, artificial intelligence in diagnostics, or for controlling devices via voice control.

Excellent!

Liesa's team's findings are leading to innovative approaches. A great example of this is an app that accompanies patients from initial diagnosis through to follow-up treatment. The success proves the ZEISS UX team right. The ZUi (ZEISS User Interface) design system has just been awarded the German Design Award 2022 in the "Human Machine Interface" category.

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