I’m afraid I’ve seen this approach in far too many healthcare organizations. This is particularly true in health data analytics. Let me know if you can relate to this cyclical discussion. I do think it’s getting better though as more people have experience in the process. It’s just been a very long road.
Understanding user needs: #prodmgmt pic.twitter.com/eHReiTVYxE
— Product Manager Club (@theproductclub) April 1, 2015
I worked as a computer programmer analyst in banks for about 20 years, much of it before you really saw a lot of formal project management in use in many firms. It could be absurdly difficult to find out what users wanted a new system to do. My absolute favorite though was when my new manager told me to write a new system to look and act just like the old system, even though the one issue that had been clarified was that the old one was next to impossible for the target audience to use. In fact, this was the second attempt to replace the old system. The first attempt was, of course, rejected by the users.
In this situation the problem was more with the IT manager not wanting anyone to get near the users to find out what they really wanted. Still, their previous rejection of a completed system spoke volumes, and I somehow persuaded the manager to let me build a prototype of a replacement with a completely different interface, one that was far easier to use, and present it to the user community.
They did accept it, and the project went forward and the system was accepted.
In the EHR world, it is often clear that the last people involved in selection, customization and implementation are the providers who will be using it. It gets dumped on them – and sometimes even rejected by them.