“Guest-First” Healthcare Design

This Fast Co Design article reminded me of the results of our Healthcare Hackathon. We asked teams to consider cancer care from the perspective of the users. We presented the teams with patient profiles and one team considered the perspective of a Radiation Therapy Technician. The focus of the design challenge was on user experience – the core design challenge with almost any healthcare project is finding that balance between creating an operationally efficient machine, capable of supporting the most advanced equipment and best medical practices, while designing an environment that supports those it serves.

Nick de la Mare’s article, “Why Schools And Hospitals Should Be More Like Theme Parks” asserts that the immersive, “guest-first” design approach to theme parks would translate to design for schools and hospitals. When our five hackathon teams presented their ideas back to the firm, we saw similar threads. One team proposed a fully customized, immersive experience for patients, focusing on comfort and familiarity throughout the potentially long process of treatment. Another extended the care experience to transportation and community offerings housed within the medical complex. Yet another team proposed de-centralizing aspects of the care experience, like offering mobile infusion units that “dock” at popular community locations. All these ideas seek to improve the patient experience, much like the “guest-first” idea de la Mare put forth.