Step 1.

Discovery

Defining the Scope
With a clear problem statement already defined, we were able to adopt a design thinking cycle based loosely on Stanford d.school's methodology. This helped us focus on discovery and solutioning instead of getting slowed down in production-ready development and delivery.

Design thinking process

Design Thinking Workshops
Workshops were essentially the engine of our project - helping us explore the ways people wayfind, clarify how patients might be feeling throughout, and even generate ideas for prototypes. We ran analogous thinking exercises (considering airport and amusement park navigation), created personas, and whiteboarded journey maps for hospital wayfinding. I led and participated in these workshops.

Design thinking workshop

Workshop journey mapping

Step 2.

Solutioning

Sketching, Prototyping, and Testing
Following our workshops, we would focus on a few ideas to go deeper with. We'd start with sketching and decide as a team if the idea held enough air to prototype against. Our goal was to learn quickly through low-fidelity prototypes and leverage that learning to generate better ideas (and better prototypes) in the future. Sometimes, we prototyped holistic systems that could get a patient from an origin point to a destination using a smart device, while other times we tested simple concepts like coloration of signage. I led much of our prototyping and testing efforts.

Example concept sketch

Early scanner prototype

Closing

Delivery & Impact

As a part of final delivery, I helped compile all of our findings from throughout the project. We also had hand-off meetings with HDR, which I co-led for my team.

Aspects of Final Prototype

• Physical mailer with RFID reminder card
• Hospital RFID scanning stations for on-demand directions
• Colored signage matching the mailer and scanner

Key Results

Physical mailer and RFID card

RFID scanning prototype

High-fidelity RFID scanner

Colored signage