Designing for Veterans

Returning combat veterans face several barriers spanning those that are physical, cognitive, and macroergonomic in nature when seeking care anad reintegrating into society. Although traditional care approaches have provided some respite, the unique characteristics of this population (e.g. avoidance, emotional numbness, and distrust) require the pursuit of alternate care methods. We illustrate how a patient ergonomics approach, which accounts for micro- and macroergonomic factors, may be used to address veterans’ specific experiences. Through a case study, we present an iterative, veteran-centered approach to designing mobile technology-based mental health interventions to enable continuous monitoring of physiological and emotional states, while providing a variety of discreet self-care alternatives. Our chapter concludes by discussing our experiences during the study, unique characteristics of this population, and veteran-specific design guidelines.