On paper, many patient portals and healthcare apps check all the boxes: appointment scheduling, secure messaging, lab results, cost estimates, and even wellness tracking. But while these features often look comprehensive, they don’t always align with what patients are genuinely trying to accomplish when they log in.

Understanding what patients really want requires moving beyond the tool’s technical capabilities and focusing instead on real-life motivations. Most people aren’t launching an app to marvel at open APIs or browse dashboards. They want answers, clarity, and progress.

Why Intentions Matter More Than Features

Patients rarely think in terms of features. Instead, they approach digital health tools looking to “get something done.” These tasks often go deeper than just refilling a prescription or rescheduling an appointment – they’re emotionally charged activities tied to reassurance, control, or peace of mind. In many cases, patients engage with these tools during moments of uncertainty, stress, or vulnerability.

Some common patient needs include:

• Understanding what comes next after a test or diagnosis
• Getting reminders for preventive care or follow-ups
• Clarifying symptoms or concerns before escalating care
• Coordinating care with family members or caregivers
• Reassurance that their health data is accurate and up-to-date

For example, a fictional patient named Maria may log into her healthcare app not simply to "view her lab results" – but to check whether her new treatment is working. That task implies emotional needs: reassurance, validation, and preparation for her next doctor’s visit. If the portal shows complicated, unexplained metrics without a clear “next step,” Maria’s most important job remains unfulfilled.

Bridging the Gap with Better Design

Recognizing what patients really want allows design and development teams to rethink workflows, prioritize features, and surface the right content at the right time. Digital health tools can be powerful assets when they are grounded in the specific tasks patients aim to accomplish – not just a checklist of what’s possible to build.

This makes a strong case for using the JTBD framework for digital health, which starts by asking: “When someone logs in, what job are they hiring this tool to do for them today?” Put simply, it’s not about just offering services – it’s about making sure those services fulfill a need that matters in a patient’s life.

The Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework is built around a simple but powerful idea: people “hire” products or services to help them make progress in their lives. In healthcare, that means understanding patients’ goals – not just their demographics or clinical profiles – and mapping digital experiences to support those goals.

For healthcare app design, the JTBD framework shifts the focus from building for features to building for outcomes. It urges teams to uncover the real-life tasks or hurdles patients are trying to resolve when they turn to digital health tools. The insights that come from this process can reshape everything from information architecture to feature priorities and tone of voice.

From Passive Users to Active Participants

Patients are not just users – they’re decision-makers in their own care. Healthcare innovation has long depended on understanding behavior, but traditional metrics often fall short of revealing what actually drives engagement. JTBD adds that missing layer by uncovering context-specific needs that shape how people interact with digital tools.

Let’s take a fictional example: a patient named Jamal uses a hospital portal to check his scan results. On the surface, the job is to “access test results.” But with the JTBD lens, we can see that Jamal’s real need is to lower anxiety while waiting, understand if treatment is working, and feel in control of his next steps. That one login encompasses emotional, functional, and social jobs – all of which the platform should support through clear language, thoughtful design, and timely reminders.

Applying JTBD to Improve Digital Health Tools

By applying the JTBD framework for digital health, product and innovation teams can identify patterns across different moments of care. These insights fuel more targeted decisions across the product lifecycle – from user-centered design choices to strategic messaging and prioritization of features that drive real value.

Examples of Jobs To Be Done in healthcare app design include:

• “Help me know how serious my symptoms are before I call my doctor”
• “Remind me what I need to do before my next visit”
• “Show me my progress toward a recovery goal”
• “Allow me to quickly update my caregiver without repeating everything”

Each of these speaks to a broader patient need beyond the function itself. By taking this approach, healthcare leaders can create more intentional, responsive experiences – not just better software. Incorporating user-centered healthcare app strategy with JTBD at the core ensures these digital tools support the human side of health just as much as the clinical side.

Ultimately, JTBD is not a replacement for user research – it enhances it. Through methods like interviews, journey mapping, and qualitative studies, firms like SIVO Insights partner with organizations to interpret JTBD insights clearly and effectively. That’s how complex patient realities are transformed into smart, actionable solutions.

When healthcare organizations design digital tools like patient portals and healthcare apps, it's easy to assume patients just want access to data – such as lab results or appointment records. But that’s only part of the story. The Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework encourages a deeper look into why patients actually turn to these tools in the first place. It uncovers the emotional and functional drivers behind their digital interactions, allowing developers to build features that are grounded in real patient needs.

Understanding patient jobs beyond the surface

In JTBD language, a “job” is not a task, but a desired outcome a person hires a product or service to accomplish. For patients, that outcome often extends beyond simply viewing health records.

For example:

• “I want peace of mind before a procedure.” This isn’t about data – it’s about reassurance. A well-designed app might support this job with easy-to-understand preparation instructions or a virtual chat with a nurse to answer last-minute questions.
• “I want to know if I’m managing my condition correctly.” Patients living with chronic illnesses often seek guidance and validation. Features like symptom tracking, medication reminders, or visualization tools for progress help satisfy this job more effectively than static test results alone.
• “I want to feel like my provider is accessible to me.” This emotional job speaks to the value of timely communication through secure messaging or video visit options, rather than relying solely on in-person interactions.

Imagining beyond utility

Let’s consider a fictional example. A healthcare system develops a new app to support post-chemotherapy care. At surface level, it lets patients see medication schedules. But by applying JTBD insights, the team learns patients are anxious about side effects and feel isolated. The app is updated to include a 24/7 symptom checker, community forum, and check-in prompts—all addressing deeper jobs like emotional support, confidence in next steps, and feeling cared for.

By focusing on what patients really need – such as reassurance, direction, and connection – rather than just information access, healthcare innovation becomes more meaningful. Jobs To Be Done helps teams uncover those needs with empathy and clarity.

With limited development resources and complex organizational goals, health systems often face tough decisions when prioritizing features for digital health tools. The Jobs To Be Done framework offers a practical, user-centered design approach that guides these choices based on what patients truly value – and are most likely to use.

Shifting from what’s possible to what’s useful

Many healthcare apps and patient portals are built with an internal view: What data can we share? What systems can we integrate? JTBD flips that lens. It asks: What job is the patient trying to get done – and how can our tool help them accomplish it?

For example, consider two potential features:

• A slick dashboard showing 20+ data points from recent tests
• A straightforward checklist of actions a patient needs to take before surgery, with automatic reminders

While the dashboard may demonstrate technological capability, the checklist better supports a patient’s job of “feeling prepared and confident.” Using JTBD, that checklist takes priority.

A roadmap for effective decision-making

JTBD doesn’t just reveal what patients want – it ranks those needs based on urgency, frequency, and emotional weight. This helps product teams and healthcare strategists decide:

• Which features will drive the biggest impact on patient experience and satisfaction
• What updates to implement first in existing healthcare portals
• When to simplify rather than expand functionality

By identifying high-value jobs, design teams can reduce feature bloat and focus efforts on the experiences that matter most.

Example: Prioritizing features for caregivers

Take a fictional case of a health system designing a portal for caregivers. They may interview users and find the highest-priority job is “quickly getting updates without calling multiple departments.” That insight might lead to investing in secure, shareable care summaries instead of lower-priority additions like social feed integrations or wearable data exports.

In this way, JTBD helps guard against the temptation to add more features for the sake of innovation, and instead ensures meaningful healthcare app development aligned with real patient needs and better healthtech strategy.

Improving patient engagement isn't just about getting more app downloads – it’s about creating consistent, meaningful use of digital health tools that lead to better outcomes. The Jobs To Be Done framework offers a powerful blueprint for doing just that, because when patient portals and apps address real jobs, users return to them again and again.

Consistent use starts with solving relevant problems

Digital tools only become a part of a patient’s routine when they provide ongoing value. If a portal addresses a job like “remembering when follow-up labs are due” with timely notifications and clear explanations, it significantly increases the chances that a patient will engage consistently and take follow-through actions.

This in turn supports better health outcomes – patients complete appointments, adhere to medication, and feel more connected to their care team.

JTBD insights guide patient-centered engagement

When systems understand why patients interact with digital tools – and when they stop – they can make smart, human-centered improvements. For instance:

• If users drop off after viewing lab results, the job might not be reading the data, but understanding what it means. Adding plain-language interpretations or “what to do next” messages can bridge that gap.
• If few people sign up for telehealth, the underlying job might be “getting quick answers about mild symptoms” – a need better met with an AI symptom checker followed by optional provider escalation.

True innovation = useful, trusted, and consistent

Fictional example: a pediatric clinic develops an app with parents in mind. JTBD research uncovers a key job: “quickly finding trusted information at 3 a.m. when my child wakes up sick.” The clinic launches after-hours Q&A content backed by pediatricians, saving parents a midnight ER visit. The relevance of this feature improves trust in the app and increases next-day bookings following content usage – a win for both users and outcomes.

Applying the JTBD framework to digital tool design not only improves the function of healthcare apps but increases the impact of healthtech strategies. It keeps innovation grounded in what patients actually want from healthcare portals – actionable insights, not just information.