Ch 5. Where does it Hurt? The Pains of Poor Service Design

Healthcare is one of the most expensive outlays a consumer can make, and people have learned to expect more transparency and even service when in the service of their doctor’s office and staff, outpatient clinics, the hospital, treatment rooms, and when undergoing tests and exams. Once “onsite” the consumer is a full customer, and often relinquishes rights to access and interaction. Perhaps we can help this change. We explore two common scenarios of healthcare service and examine the points of (poorly-designed) pain, the services and interactions that are being transformed today, and identify the problems for redesigning the experience of healthcare service delivery from a patient-centered perspective. We will draw upon well-known research (IDEO and Designworks) to illustrate the opportunities and possibilities of redesigning the patient-experienced environment. Information interfaces (sites and in-house hospital services) will be evaluated and presented consistent with other chapters.

Design process examples: Rapid ethnography, Collaborative innovation methods
Design lesson: Show before and after pictures and story from hospital service design case study