A Review of the Turkish Medical Devices Sector: Evaluation of Product Development Processes Based on Human-Centered Design

The medical device sector is one of the rapidly developing important sectors in Turkey as well as in the global market. When we look at the reports on the Turkish medical device sector, it is stated that the domestic market is highly dependent on imported products and there is a prejudice against Turkish medical devices in both the domestic and global markets. Within the scope of this study, it was thought that the stated prejudice could be due to the lack of industrial product design in the sector and in a two-stage qualitative research, the medical device development processes of the companies were evaluated based on the human-centered design requirements determined as a result of the literature study (medical device usability, patient safety, user interface, usage error, user experience and ergonomics/human factors). In the preliminary data collection phase of the study, interviews were conducted with 17 companies and then the product development processes of 5 companies were examined in detail in a second interview study. As a result, it was concluded that the Turkish medical device sector could benefit from human-centered design and thus increase its competitive power in both the local and international markets by producing better products.