Learning about the needs of patients and providers within the Mass General Brigham health system

Challenge

The health system is a complex web of disparate workflows and teams. For patients, that complexity can lead to questions and challenges as they navigate their own care experiences. Uncovering insights from both the provider and patient sides of healthcare is a critical part in creating desirable solutions.  

Topics I’ve explored through user research:

• Patient experiences with cancer care
  
• Patient and provider reactions to health plan service offerings
• Patient experiences with chronic kidney disease care
• User testing and stakeholder feedback on patient mobility tool prototype

Process

I conduct HIPAA-compliant user research to understand processes, pain points and delight points across an experience or intervention, and reactions to proposed solutions. Most frequently, I conduct individual interviews with patients and providers as this is the most convenient and least burdensome way to learn qualitatively from our stakeholder population.

Methods:

• One-on-one in-depth interviews
  
• Workshops
  
• Focus groups / Feedback sessions

Outcome

These human insights add color to how we choose to address challenges in the health system. In an environment that is often not used to ‘design,’ it is impactful to provide insights in visualized formats that a range of stakeholders can understand and find actionable.

Deliverables:

• Process maps and journey maps
• Common themes & moments of divergence
• Personas