Co-designing for the Triad: Design Considerations for Collaborative Decision-Making Technologies in Pediatric Chronic Care

A multi-institutional research team, including authors from the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital, has published a foundational paper titled 'Co-designing for the Triad: Design Considerations for Collaborative Decision-Making Technologies in Pediatric Chronic Care.' The work, accepted as an Extended Abstract for the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, directly addresses the complex 'triadic' relationship between young patients, their caregivers, and healthcare providers in managing long-term conditions like chronic kidney disease.

Through structured co-design workshops with 19 total participants (6 youth, 6 caregivers, 7 providers), the researchers systematically mapped barriers to effective collaboration. They found challenges exist at all levels of 'situational awareness,' from individual cognitive/emotional constraints and misaligned mental models about the condition, to deeper relational conflicts over care goals. This misalignment often hinders joint decision-making and can negatively impact health outcomes.

In response, the paper proposes a concrete set of design implications for future digital health technologies. These principles are aimed at supporting continuous decision-making practice, formally aligning the mental models of all three parties, carefully balancing necessary caregiver support with the youth's developing autonomy, and proactively surfacing potential care challenges before they become crises. The goal is to move beyond tools for individual users and create systems that foster shared understanding and empower entire families within the care journey.