Healthcare Representatives as Supporting Design Sprints

Sub-study IV investigated the participation of various healthcare representatives and specialists and how they can support the implementation of, optimize the use of, and catalyze an intensive and agile design sprint process for ongoing healthcare-related service development.

In the following paragraphs, I will answer the research question of the sub-study: How can healthcare representatives support design sprints in the development of healthcare-related services? Here, I will describe the different roles of healthcare representatives in healthcare-related service development and how these roles supported the design sprint process.

I will also introduce the key elements that healthcare representatives could draw on to help implement design sprints in the development of healthcare-related services. The data of the study were gathered through three design sprints, which were organized in three different locations:

Gothenburg, Sweden; Tallinn, Estonia; and Rovaniemi, Finland.

In sub-study IV, we identified the main roles where the participation

of healthcare representatives was seen. The first role was as a team member, where the clinician, nurse, or specialist fully participated in the design sprint team. We saw this role as twofold: the healthcare representative supported the team members all the time by providing views based on their first-hand experience, and the design sprint team also provided learning opportunities to hospital staff through innovations and motivated other team members (mainly students) who brought their practical experience of implementing service design methods into the mix.

The second role of the healthcare representative was as a learner and design thinker. We found that being part of the design sprint teams acquainted the healthcare representatives with design thinking, gave them a better understanding of the customers’ needs, and taught them to use design methods in practice and how these could assist with the implementation of tools in their daily work. We determined that such learning can be a good way to implement systemic change.

The third role was of the healthcare representative as a mentor. In this role, the healthcare staff visited the design sprint teams for different amounts of time, but on average, these visits were 20–30 minutes. The mentoring was done in all three design sprints, and it could happen on-site (e.g., in a specific ward or clinic) or at the location where the design sprint was held. We found that on-site mentoring was better for the design sprint teams, as the experts could more fully describe processes, systems, and technologies, and thus, the groups could better perceive the service journey from the customers’ perspective. Thus, the mentors were seen as a catalyst in the design sprint process, and they were impacted by the value of the visualizations and design methods, which helped the students discuss and perceive the process holistically. The last role was of the hospital representative as facilitator, where they actively supported design teams by providing insights and knowledge and by contacting the right people inside the organization. A healthcare representative as facilitator was a great link between design sprint teams and hospitals.

These identified roles of the healthcare representatives are essential to the development of a framework for human-centered design sprints.

This kind of practical framework is for use in design sprints by healthcare representatives who are moving toward the development of healthcare-related services. The framework can create opportunities to employ other methods, such as transformation service design. In the framework, we stressed four important themes: (1) learning and knowledge sharing;

(2) design thinking, support, and participation; (3) power sharing and mentorship; and (4) facilitation.

Learning and Knowledge Sharing

We found that in terms of learning and knowledge sharing, the healthcare professionals who participated in the entire design sprint learned how to gain a better understanding of design methods and to use them in their future work. This is an important aspect of the transformational change described by Sangiorgi (2011). The healthcare professionals also learned how different ideas were formulated and developed further during the different phases of the design sprint process. In addition, applying design methods and design thinking enabled knowledge sharing. Consequently, the healthcare representatives were able to immerse themselves better within the processes and bring transformational change to the hospitals through the exploration of new services.

Design Thinking, Support, and Participation

In the co-design process, designers (often referred to as facilitators) usually guide participants and other stakeholders through the entire project (Miettinen et al., 2012). The designers guide dialogue, support the usage of design methods, help to empathize with people, and select the best possible tools for understanding the data, their insights, and outcomes.

The participants’ experiences and thoughts are linked by using different design methods and visualization techniques, which also increase the ability of design thinking. According to Miettinen et al. (2012) the common characteristics of good design thinkers are empathy, integrative thinking, optimism, experimentalism, and collaboration. These elements should be supported.

Power Sharing and Mentorship

One of the most notable findings from sub-study IV concerned the value of power sharing through mentoring. The healthcare experts, who participated in the role of mentors, could clarify the complex and multi-layered healthcare processes for other design sprint team members and also better reflect the different roles and hierarchies in the silo-structured organization. Together, they produced important and deep insights, where the design methods worked as a platform for the data and dialogue. At the same time, the mentors were introduced to the design methods, but

due to the short visit times with the teams, the methods were not learned in-depth. As we found in sub-study III, the design sprint was seen as an example for the healthcare staff. Yet the sharing of responsibilities during mentoring and co-learning enabled dynamic and agile sprint processes, and thus, the design sprint process benefitted from having access to a variety of inputs from different healthcare representatives and experts at the different phases of the design sprint process. A holistic understanding of the hospital ecosystem was created during these shared sessions (Figure 18).

Figure 18. Mentoring during the design sprints in Rovaniemi. (Pictures: Maileena Tuokko)

Facilitation

Finally, I want to stress the last theme of sub-study IV. The facilitator often leads the design process and uses design methods and dialogue with the participants and stakeholders from different fields (Sanders & Stappers, 2008; Yu & Sangiorgi, 2017). Thus, the role of facilitator is crucial during the design process, where different skills are needed to reach the aims or planned outcomes. In the sub-study, we saw that facilitators needed to understand how to approach the design brief or design drivers, how to apply different design methods, how to collaborate with participants from different fields, and how to manage tensions and conflicts during co-design.

According to Sanders (2010), in the front end of the design process, many people want to have a role: there are not only experts from different fields and users but also researchers and designers. All are willing to express their needs and dreams and offer their voices and hands. Therefore, Sanders added, a common phenomenon is that these stakeholders have conflicting interests, there is discontent among disciplines, and power

relations become highly complex. Thus, the facilitator role is crucial for finding ways to face and manage these conflicts and gaps. Figure 19 below shows the facilitation in the practice, negotiating with healthcare staff and the design sprint team members.

Figure 19. Facilitation in the practice in the design sprint in Rovaniemi. In the picture on the left, I am negotiating with the coordinator from the hospital. In the picture on the right, I am listening to and observing the design sprint team members. (Pictures:

Maileena Tuokko)