Design Thinking in Healthcare and Its Importance

Design thinking has almost made traditional problem-solving approaches obsolete and irrelevant. It is the 21st-century way of doing business and driving innovation in every industry. This article will discuss how vital is design thinking in healthcare is and how it has been a foolproof approach to enhancing patient care. Interestingly, we will briefly look at the role that Delesign plays in this landscape and how it can help you develop solutions derived from this approach. 

Design Thinking and Its Relevance 

Design thinking is an ever-growing approach in various businesses and industries. It has transformed the way companies deliver products and services to their customers. In fact, technology giants like Apple and Google use this method in their undertakings, ensuring constant human-centered innovation. So what exactly makes design thinking relevant, and why does it work? 

Design thinking is a non-linear, user-oriented, solutions-based process. At the center of this method is understanding the user to redefine problems and find alternative solutions that may not be obvious at a surface level. It involves deep human understanding 

5 Stages of Design Thinking 

To better understand how design thinking works, we will look at the design thinking model identified by the Hasso-Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford (d.school). This academic institution is at the forefront of design thinking. This model has the following five stages: 

1. Empathize 

In this initial stage, you are to empathize with the user to understand the problem. It is in this stage where you try to understand human experiences and motivations. There are plenty of ways to do this, including talking to experts, observing people, immersing yourself in communities, among others. This stage is intended to prevent you from making assumptions like in traditional problem-solving methods, as these could lead you astray. Moreover, this stage allows you to gain substantial insight that will be beneficial in later stages. 

2. Define 

In this stage, you are to use and synthesize the knowledge you have gained to identify and define the problems at hand. Remember, you need to define them as problem statements in a human-centered approach. The user has to be the subject of your problem statements. Framing problems in this manner will allow you to design solutions that best address them, which is what the next stage is all about. 

3. Ideate 

You begin generating ideas in the third stage. It will now be easier for you to ideate with a better understanding of the users and their needs and human-oriented problem statements. Thinking outside the box is essential in this stage, as this is the very core of design thinking itself. Techniques like Brainstorm and Worst Possible Idea are helpful, stimulating free-thinking and allowing you to expand your point-of-view. You can use more than one ideation technique to flesh out ideas and solutions that work 

4. Prototype 

After generating ideas, you are now ready to produce your prototypes. Prototypes are inexpensive versions of the product or its features, which will allow you to analyze further the solutions you have created. This stage is mostly an experimental stage where the goal is to identify the best solution for every problem statement. At the end of this stage, you will have learned more about the constraints of the solution. More importantly, you will have a better understanding of how users would receive the product. 

5. Test 

The last stage of this design thinking model involves rigorous product testing. In this stage, the solution is further altered and refined to satisfy the problem statement. It aims to understand the product deeper, as well as how its users think and feel about it. This stage’s results might even redirect you to the second stage of the process. Essentially, it might lead you to redefine your problem statements to come up with better solutions. 

Design Thinking in Healthcare 

In healthcare, design thinking has never been more relevant and significant than it is today. The very nature of design thinking is crucial in delivering patient-oriented care.

To better understand how design thinking can improve patient care, let us look at a simple example of a healthcare industry problem— missed medical appointments. Accordingly, roughly 3.6 million people miss their medical appointments because of transportation concerns. This problem costs the industry billions of dollars annually, not to mention it compromises quality medical attention and care delivery. While there are many factors causing people to miss their medical appointments, this identified factor sheds light on a problem that most people might not even consider an issue in the first place. 

With design thinking, you can improve overall patient care by focusing on the entire patient experience. In this case, that experience includes even the things that happen before and after a medical appointment. Design thinking allows you to solve problems by leveraging human understanding.

As an example, let us use the five-stage design thinking model to tackle this problem:

1. Empathize

In this stage, you find out more about the patients’ issues just to get to the hospital or clinic. Given their conditions, how difficult is it for them to drive or commute? Is the hospital accessible? Are there options for public transportation? How long would it take them to get to the hospital? These are just some of the questions you need to ask to gain a better understanding of your patients’ plight.  

2. Define

After getting to know your patients and gathering relevant data, you can develop your problem statements. Remember, there could be more than one problem statement. Instead of making assumptions, you can use the knowledge you have gained to identify the real problem. Perhaps, it has nothing to do with their time management skills, but rather the lack of public transportation. In this stage, you will be able to identify the issues specifically.  

3. Ideate

You can begin the ideation process after identifying your problem statements. Various ideation techniques are at your disposal. When you brainstorm ideas, throw in out-of-the-box questions. Is there a way for you to provide more accessible services? Is it feasible to go to the patients instead of having them go to you? These are just some questions you may think of during this stage.  

4. Prototype

After generating ideas, develop your prototypes. Is it going to be a mobile service? A smartphone app? A digital platform? If you are clueless about these digital solutions, companies like Delesign can help you develop your prototypes, and more importantly, your products. Remember, these solutions need to be user-friendly since the end-goal is to optimize patient experience and not make things more difficult.  

5. Test 

Run tests. Roll out your prototypes and simulations. Through these tests, you will be able to gather further data regarding user experience. Is your product helping the patients? What issues have they encountered while using it? Did they have a satisfactory experience while using it? Simply speaking, these tests will help you improve your product and ensure that it is the perfect solution to the problem at hand.  

Summary 

Design thinking in healthcare can revolutionize the global healthcare industry and significantly improve patient care. There is quite a learning curve for this problem-solving approach, but the results are beyond impressive when done right. Find out how Delesign can help you adapt design thinking in creating meaningful experiences for your users and patients by contacting the company here .