Co-design

For when you could use some more human-centered design research to figure out what solution you need.

Read the full case study

Project title: Outside the Line Notes
Client: Carrie Powell of still emerging
For: Thomas Jefferson University Health Communication Design MS
Design advisors: Maribeth Kradel-Weitzel, Christine Sheller, Renée Walker
Role: Creative direction, human-centered reseach, and UX/UI design

Problem

Medical notes are cumbersome for clinicians and practitioners to complete because Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) prioritize compliance over utility. This means that most are not user-friendly or multimodal in the way we have come to expect from modern digital tools. More specifically, there are no documentation solutions specifically geared towards arts therapists.

Solution

This solution was co-designed alongside practitioners who think and work outside the medical model. Following Kat Holmes’ notion of “inclusive design,” I conducted a small sample of ethnographic research with therapists and met regulary with a neurodivergent expressive arts practitioner. We solved for those typically excluded from the creation of traditonal EMR tools.

Stakeholder mapping

There are a myriad of stakeholders involved in electronic health information. My target design client sat closer to chronic care including ongoing therapy. That’s where I focused my interview research.

How might we transform notetaking from a burdensome task into a relevant aspect of creative therapeutic engagement?

Journey Mapping

Because private practitioners who don’t take insurance have less complicated billing needs, this project focused on notetaking and referring back to notes. Meeting with Carrie weekly for several months and interviewing five other therapists allowed me to deeply understand their emotional experience when it comes to notes.

“

“There’s no way I’m going to remember details of a session. I would consider using written note taking since it’s not possible to upload artwork alongside my notes in a platform.”

— ARTS THERAPIST

“

“I just use Microsoft Word. Taking the time to use a new technology is a time suck. Some technologies are more intuitive than others. I take notes in a way that makes sense to me…but I would never suggest this method to my arts therapy students!”

— EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPIST AND PROFESSOR

Findings

Co-design

For when you could use some more human-centered design research to figure out what solution you need.

“

“There’s no way I’m going to remember details of a session. I would consider using written note taking since it’s not possible to upload artwork alongside my notes in a platform.”

“

“I just use Microsoft Word. Taking the time to use a new technology is a time suck. Some technologies are more intuitive than others. I take notes in a way that makes sense to me…but I would never suggest this method to my arts therapy students!”

1. A lack of visual style makes EMRs less engaging 2. Task lists on the homepage were overwhelming 3. 100% of interviewees wanted to reuse language

1. A lack of visual style makes EMRs less engaging

2. Task lists on the homepage were overwhelming

3. 100% of interviewees wanted to reuse language