INTUITIVE SURGICAL

INTUITIVE SURGICAL

INTUITIVE SURGICAL

UI / UX DESIGN

SUMMARY

Intuitive is a global leader in minimally invasive healthcare and robotic assisted surgical technology.

As a product design intern, I conducted an exploratory design project for interaction, workflow, and visual enhancements to the da Vinci 5 surgeon console experience. I collaborated across UX, engineering, system analytics, human factors, and clinical development teams.

Internship Duration

3 months

UNDER NDA
Due to NDA restrictions, I am unable to share details of my process or final designs. Please contact for more information.

*All video content on this page is official content from the Intuitive website (intuitive.com)

01

OVERVIEW

01 OVERVIEW

MY ROLE

As part of a small design team, I conducted an exploratory project for enhancements to the surgeon's console of da Vinci 5, Intuitive's most advanced robotic surgical system.

CONTEXT

14M+

procedures performed worldwide through 2022 using da Vinci systems. That's a new procedure started every 13.8 seconds.

More info

Every design decision for the surgeon's user experience profoundly impacts surgeons, patients, and families around the world.

DELIVERABLES

Over the course of my internship, I delivered…

Design and analysis of user flow concepts for in development features

Visual prototypes demonstrating new 3D interaction and motion design to define design standards on the system

UI/UX support for interactive prototypes in simulation environments

High fidelity 2D & 3D UI assets

02

PROJECT DETAILS

02 PROJECT DETAILS

Project direction

I explored 3 key areas over the course of my internship.

EXPLORATION 01

How can we integrate alternative hand control interactions to increase usability and surgeon autonomy?

BACKGROUND

Surgeon's interact with the system through a combination of moving, rotating, pinching and flicking hand controllers. These controllers present a large opportunity space for new alternative interaction methods to increase usability and surgeon autonomy in the operating room.

DELIVERABLES

Worked with engineering, systems analytics, human factors, and clinical development teams to determine controller behavior specs and user flows for new interactions.

EXPLORATION 02

How can we redesign existing and upcoming features to better align with surgeon workflows during operations?

BACKGROUND

Every surgeon has their own unique workflow and operating room dynamic. The more we can give control to the surgeon through aligning features with what they might want, need, and expect at any given moment, the more we can ensure safe and efficient operations.

DELIVERABLES

  • Worked with in-house clinical team to gain a deep understanding of surgeon needs and workflow pain points.

  • Used insights to design user flow concepts for enhancements to in development features.

  • Contributed to redesigns of menu system to improve efficiency and information architecture.

EXPLORATION 03

How can we expand the use of 3D UI and motion design to enhance the surgeon's experience with the interface?

BACKGROUND

While the da Vinci 5 console is capable of supporting complex integrated 3D UI and motion, it's current usage it limited. Expanding the use of 3D could improve the usability of the system and help introduce new interaction possibilities.

DELIVERABLES

  • Created 3D models, textures, lighting, and motion design references that directly contributed to defining design standards for integrated 3D.

  • Created hi-fidelity video prototypes to demonstrate use of 3D UI & motion in the context of new features and interaction methods.

03

TAKEAWAYS

01 OVERVIEW

01

Discovering the bad design directions can be just as important as figuring out the right ones.

As I explored possibilities for both UX and UI, the amount of branching paths for what direction I could take often felt overwhelming, making the challenge of zeroing in on the best path seem nearly impossible. I learned, however, that it was often best to simply pick a direction and see where it leads. Through discovering directions that fell short of our goals, I was able to learn what does not work and why, and communicate those insights so the entire team could continuously improve their design process.

02

Don't let unanswered questions hinder progress in the design process.

In order to deliver useful design materials within a short time frame, I had to learn when to leave certain questions unanswered and sometimes even go straight from ideation to high fidelity concepts and back. Through this process, I could simultaneously develop some aspects of the project and keep everyone aligned on the vision, while leaving other aspects open to go back to and refine.