PWPM Wiki

Medical Device Development Project Dashboard

This is a practical guide to building a project dashboard for a medical device development project — a visual summary of the project’s key metrics and status, adapted to the realities of developing a regulated medical device.

What a Project Dashboard is

A project dashboard is a visual summary of the project’s key metrics and status. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Project Dashboard. On a medical device development project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.

Why it matters for a Medical Device Development project

Medical Device Development projects live or die on developing a regulated medical device. A well-built project dashboard gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how medical device development projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.

What to include

  • Status indicators
  • Schedule and cost KPIs
  • Milestones
  • Top risks/issues

Medical Device Development-specific considerations

Tailor the project dashboard to the risks that most often derail medical device development projects:

  • Regulatory approval (FDA/CE)
  • Design verification
  • Quality-system compliance

Example

On a real medical device development project, the project dashboard would be shaped by developing a regulated medical device. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — regulatory approval (FDA/CE), design verification, quality-system compliance — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.