VALID Care Pathways: A Framework for Meaningful Digital Platform Design

Despite the advancement in design, development, and use of digital platforms in general, data-driven platforms and novel use of emerging technologies in healthcare, in particular, have been lagging behind. Sleep is one of the fundamental pillars of health and the cognitive functioning connected to sleep deprivation has, to date, not been researched to a large extent. Moreover, cognitive functioning is usually measured in an in-laboratory setting, although digital measuring at-home would be beneficial. Thus, digitally measuring cognitive functioning over an extended period of time can provide valuable insights into sleep health. Based on findings from a two-year action design research project, dimensions of the design and development of a digital platform to deliver at-home measuring of cognitive functioning were explored. The digital platform was designed with the primary objective of achieving high usability while preserving the validity of relevant clinical measurements. The main contribution of this paper consists of conceptualizing and theorizing care pathways through digital platforms based on our novel findings from co-designing and evaluating the platform with professionals and 55 participants, leading to the formulation of VALID framework to inform the ongoing design and development process of digital platforms of the future.