From Medical Devices to Homelessness: How Human Factors Could Help Fix Broken Systems with Shannon Clark

What if the same principles that make medical devices safer could also help prevent homelessness? For Shannon Clark, that question has shaped her career in human factors, entrepreneurship, and social impact.

After founding UserWise and serving as its CEO for 10 years, Shannon transitioned away from day-to-day leadership and began exploring a different challenge: homelessness. As founder and president of HavenSafe, she is applying lessons from human factors engineering to homelessness prevention, using technology and software to connect people with resources.

From Mechanical Engineering to Human Factors

Shannon’s path into life sciences began with a degree in mechanical engineering at UCLA. Growing up around startups in the Bay Area, she gained early experience before joining Abbott Laboratories. She later joined Intuitive Surgical as one of the first four human factors engineers, helping establish practices for one of the most complex medical devices ever developed. As FDA enforcement of human factors requirements expanded, Shannon recognized an opportunity to help companies navigate this evolving regulatory landscape. That insight ultimately led her to found UserWise, where she worked with startups and Fortune 500 companies to address human factors requirements.

Why Human Factors Is About More Than Compliance

Human factors is often misunderstood as creating a product with an appealing design or polished user interface. Shannon emphasizes that its true purpose is patient safety, identifying and addressing design issues that could cause harm. She says teams should prioritize hazard-related use scenarios based on their potential impact, giving greatest attention to issues that could result in bodily injury, recalls, or delayed 510(k) submissions. Shannon explains that critical design issues should “bubble to the surface” and receive the majority of the design effort. 

Taking a MedTech Mindset to Homelessness

After transitioning away from UserWise, Shannon began volunteering with organizations serving people experiencing homelessness in San Jose. Seeing a large encampment near her neighborhood, she became interested in understanding how people became unhoused and where existing systems were falling short. That experience led her to develop HavenSafe, an organization focused on homelessness prevention. Shannon saw an opportunity to apply the same systems-level thinking used in human factors: rather than blaming individuals for outcomes, identify the systemic factors contributing to them. As Shannon explains, “we need to figure out what are the systemic attributes that contributed to this outcome and then address these systemic issues.”

Turning Resources Into Real Solutions

HavenSafe has mapped hundreds of social service programs and incorporated them into software used by its call center. Volunteers use the system to match callers with programs that can address their needs. Shannon says that Santa Clara County has nearly $30 million available for people facing homelessness, yet many people do not know these resources exist or find them difficult to access. HavenSafe is designed to make that process easier through a largely volunteer-run model.

Why This Matters

Shannon’s journey demonstrates how lessons from medical device innovation can extend far beyond healthcare. Human factors taught her to look beyond individual mistakes and understand the systems that shape outcomes. Through HavenSafe, she is applying that philosophy to homelessness prevention, with the goal of creating more effective solutions. Her approach reflects a broader lesson for innovators: solving complex problems starts with understanding the systems surrounding them rather than simply treating the symptoms.

What to Watch

Looking ahead, Shannon hopes HavenSafe can expand its model to other counties where complex networks of agencies and programs make it difficult for people to find the help they need. She is also launching a marbling art studio in San Jose that will provide low-barrier employment opportunities for people experiencing financial hardship, creating another pathway toward stability. Shannon’s work demonstrates how innovation can move beyond traditional industries, bringing lessons from medical technology into new areas where better systems can create meaningful impact.

To learn more, listen to the full Project MedTech Podcast episode featuring Shannon Clark, founder and president of HavenSafe: https://www.projectmedtech.com/projectmedtechpodcast/episode/2ff48d1d/episode-275-shannon-clark-founder-president-of-havensafe-from-human-factors-to-ending-homelessness