The goal of the PEN&PAD project is to design and develop a useful and usable medical workstation for day–to–day use in patient care. The project has adopted a user centred approach and direct observations of doctors, participative design and Formative Evaluation have therefore been an integral part of the process of software development. Indeed, doctors have been involved from the earliest stages of the project. The project has focussed on British General Practitioners, but the methods which have been evolved are general. This paper describes the strategy by which doctors can be involved in the successful design and development of a medical workstation.