Design Thinking

Finding problems worth solving and

solutions worth making in healthcare
#SXSHackmed
http://sxshackmed.mithackmed.com

ADAM CONNOR EXPERIENCE DESIGNER, VP ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN & TRAINING @ADAMCONNOR

Where do new ideas
come from?
“There is surely nothing quite so useless
as doing with great efficiency that which
should not be done at all.”
Peter Drucker
Management Consultant,
Author, & Educator
“If you build it, they will come…”
-Disembodied Voice, Field of Dreams
“If you build it, they will come…”
-Disembodied Voice, Field of Dreams

IS A MISQUOTED, BULLSHIT LINE

FROM A MOVIE THAT HAS WASTED
THE TIME OF COUNTLESS PEOPLE
AND ORGANIZATIONS FOR FAR TOO
DAMN LONG.

(the actual line is: “If you build it, he will come.”)
 Things that
are desirable.
People want them
because they are
Things that beneficial.
are innovative.

Things that Things that

are feasible.
They can be made
using the skills,
knowledge and
technology that we
have or can acquire.
are viable.
The “consumption” of
these things will
provide us with means
to continue to
produce/provide them.
 Things that
are desirable.
People want them
because they are
Things that beneficial.

P
are innovative.
Obligatory
Venn Diagram

Things that Things that

are feasible. are viable.
They can be made The “consumption” of
using the skills, these things will
knowledge and provide us with means
technology that we to continue to
have or can acquire. produce/provide them.
Innovation has more to do with adding
value than new concepts.
TJ Parker
PillPack
Mick Coulas
Design Thinking is an abstraction of
the principles and process that
designers use to solve problems.
Great design is based on observed, human need (human centricity).

Great design comes from understanding people’s behaviors, thoughts

(cognitive empathy) and emotions (emotional empathy).

In order to make good design decisions, we must first create

possibilities to choose from.

Great design comes from a desire to create real outcomes.

Great design is iterative. It leverages continuous learning and never

truly ends.
Principles give rise to process.
 Principles give rise to process.

Initial r g e
iv e
Insight D

Discover

Great design is based on observed, human need (human centricity).

 Principles give rise to process.
Co
Initial nve Reframed
v erge rge
Insight D i Opportunity

Discover Synthesize

Great design comes from understanding people’s behaviors, thoughts

(cognitive empathy) and emotions (emotional empathy).
 Principles give rise to process.
Co
Initial nve Reframed
rge rge r ge
Insight Dive Opportunity Div e

Discover Synthesize Generate

In order to make good design decisions, we must first create

possibilities to choose from.
 Principles give rise to process.
Co Co
Initial nve Reframed nve New
v erge rge
v e r ge rge
Insight D i Opportunity Di Solution

Discover Synthesize Generate Refine

Great design comes from a desire to create real outcomes.

 Principles give rise to process.
Co Co
Initial nve Reframed nve New
v erge rge
v e r ge rge
Insight D i Opportunity Di Solution

Discover Synthesize Generate Refine

Evaluate & Iterate

Great design is iterative. It leverages continuous learning and never

truly ends.
 Principles give rise to process.

Initial r g e
iv e
Insight D

Discover
You have to understand a problem
before you can solve it.
Problems are often composed of or
caused by other problems…
And often the problems you’re asked to
solve are not the one’s you need to solve.
Who knows more about the healthcare
needs of the elderly?

OR
What people say
and what people do
aren’t necessarily
the same thing.
What someone What someone
says they think, What someone really thinks and
feel, and do… actually does… feels…

Discovered through Discovered through Discovered through

interviews, focus groups, observation and immersion in meaningful human
surveys, etc. real life contexts connections, conversation,
and immersion
 Quantitative
Used to identify and measure
patterns in thinking and
behavior among groups of
people.
Qualitative
Used to gather deeper
information on individual’s
thinking, feeling and
motivations.

EXAMPLES EXAMPLES
Surveys Interviews
Data Mining Journal Studies
 Quantitative Qualitative
Used to identify and measure Used to gather deeper
patterns in thinking and information on individual’s
behavior among groups of thinking, feeling and
people. WHAT motivations.
WHY
EXAMPLES EXAMPLES
Surveys Interviews
Data Mining Journal Studies
“I had to employ a very
advanced, scientific
approach to make the
diagnosis…

…I sat down on her

bed and asked her
about her family.”
Doogie Howser
Doogie Howser, M.D. - Episode 58
Doug Dietz
GE Healthcare
GE Adventure Series
 Once you’ve gathered a
bunch of information, you
need to make sense of it.
 Principles give rise to process.

Co
Initial nve Reframed
e rge rge
Insight Div Opportunity

Discover Synthesize
Synthesis is the process of making sense
of data and insights through analysis like
comparison, categorization, pattern
recognition, and pruning.
Characters
Personas
Archetypes that describe the average
behaviors, needs, goals, expectations,
senses, knowledge, etc. of the people who
will interact with your creation.

Empathy Maps
A framework to explore and capture a
persona’s initial thoughts, feelings, senses
and actions when faced with a situation.
Stories
Task Flows & Scenarios
Describe a task (or tightly linked set of
tasks) that someone will accomplish by
interacting with your creation.

Journey Maps
Illustrate the collection of experiences of
one or more archetypes across multiple
touch points and channels.
Environment

(Eco)Systems
Describe the “world” (physical and
virtual) in which the stories take place.
The solutions we arrive at are directly
influenced by how we focus and frame
the challenge.
Understanding a problem and it’s contexts
isn’t enough.
We also need a vision.
 Vision

Today

The Future
 Vision

Today

The Future
Goals

Desired, measurable outcomes from someone interacting with the creation. Can
be user oriented, business oriented, or both.

Ex: Increase utilization of internal learning resources by 20%.

Principles

Rules for “behavior” that reflect desired qualities or characteristics of the solution.

Ex: Shift from thinking to doing. Shift the focus of the experience from the content
and knowledge-gain to applying the ideas and lessons to my job.

Future-state Narratives

Scenarios, journey maps or other constructs that describe the desired experience of
an individual using the system/service/etc. in the future.
Tom Fishburne
 Principles give rise to process.

Co
Initial nve Reframed
e rge rge
ve r g e
Insight Div Opportunity Di

Discover Synthesize Generate

Often organizations struggle to come up
with ideas because they focus on coming
up with the solution before coming up
with any solution.
“The best way to have good ideas is to
have lots of ideas.”
Linus Pauling
Chemist, Author,
Educator, & Activist
“It is better to have enough ideas for some
of them to be wrong, than to be always
right by having no ideas at all.”
Edward de Bono
Author, Inventor, & Physician
The goal of the generation phase is to
come up with as many potential solutions
as you can, no matter their validity.
To do this, we must be methodical in how
we use the mortal enemy of the
imagination: critical thinking.
3 Forms of Creativity: Copying
Reproducing a concept to be used in the same or a new context.
3 Forms of Creativity: Extending
Building on or expanding concepts to address new or larger contexts.
3 Forms of Creativity: Combining
Putting concepts or components of multiple ideas together in new arrangements.
Design Thinking
won’t get you very
far unless you’re also
Design Doing.
 Principles give rise to process.

Co Co
Initial nve Reframed nve New
e rge rge
e rge rge
Insight Div Opportunity Div Solution

Discover Synthesize Generate Refine

Prototyping is the act of determining the
details of a creation along the various types
of fidelity through the creation of a
representation of the end creation that
people can interact with.
Prototyping is a process of evolution that
aligns to the overall design process.
Great design comes from a desire to
create real outcomes.
 Timothy Prestero
Design that Matters
NeoNurture
Once we’ve got something prototyped, we
put it out into the world, observe it and
begin the cycle again.
 Principles give rise to process.

Co Co
Initial nve Reframed nve New
e rge rge
e rge rge
Insight Div Opportunity Div Solution

Discover Synthesize Generate Refine

Evaluate & Iterate

Making it all Work
Collaboration

Working effectively with others allows us to harness diversity and volume to generate
a wider array of insights and ideas

Visual Communication & Distributed Cognition

By representing information and ideas visually, we allow for easier sharing of

concepts and more opportunities for individuals to build from other’s thoughts.

Critique

Discussion during creative endeavors can be tricky. Critique focuses discussion on

analysis and critical thought rather than preferences and territory.
It never really ends.
 HXREFACTORED.COM
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Thank You!
Adam Connor
Experience Designer
VP Organizational Design & Training

@adamconnor

aconnor@madpow.net