Questions Informing our Research
Week 03 | January 30–February 5, 2024
During the course of this week, we have been refining how we will approach our research, practicing forms of observation, reviewing modes of design research, and learning more about the design research process.
This post builds off of our Introductions and Initial Thoughts post.
Methods for Design Research
Kristin Hughes, our professor, walked us through different methods of design research. This was particularly helpful in prompting us to think of ways we might explore the questions we are forming. We also practiced several methods, including an AEIOU exercise and guided interviews. On Thursday, we had a short conversational interview with Kristin, which helped us in our early phase of establishing what we’d like to learn more about.
AEIOU Exercise
We performed an AEIOU exercise, as developed by Mark Baskinger and Bruce Hanington, which prompted us to hone our observational skills.
Activities | help us contextualize how people actually use a space.
Environments | tell us more about the layout, materials, and atmosphere of a space. It may provide deeper insight into the activities performed.
Interactions | speak volumes about how people are using the space, how they interact with each other, and how the space is being used.
Objects | can provide surprising insight about what is working well—and what isn’t, through people interacting with them. Focusing on objects could help us to remember the space and how things are used.
Users (or better: participants, people) | focusing on participants and what they are doing helps to better understand their goals.
The AEIOU exercise is easy to remember and will be especially useful in a hospital environment where we cannot record photos, videos, or audio.
Interview Insights
When we met with Kristin, we gathered some more insights about what it’s like to discover that you have cancer and need treatment. The biggest takeaway: it’s overwhelming, difficult to navigate, and scary.
Useful information/tools
- business cards
- Chemo 101 (and starred pamphlet)
- signs of infection (Chemo 101)
Hacks
- Igloo cooler and dry ice because the chemo treatment area has no refrigeration (for cap that prevents hair loss and neuropathy gloves)
- journal for personal and medical recording
- bag
Connection
- people were on the same calendar—you recognize the people in the waiting rooms, treatment
Emotion
- “scared to death”
- “petrified”
- “terrified”
- “scary” (most commonly used word)
Struggles
- finding relevant information
- representation—why are male forms and images so prevalent for a treatment that are only on female bodies?
- couldn’t easily understand the way that information was presented in the binder
- mixed messaging
- outdated phone numbers and services (acupuncture)
Refining our Approach to Evaluatory Research
Raelynn O’Leary and Ashley Deal from Dezudio and Carnegie Mellon University School of Design walked us through their approach to design research, and that’s what we plan to use as a guide for our own process. They had three really beautifully articulated points about the design research process:
- design research is not about having participants solve problems
- design research informs our intuition
- design research in practice is inherently collaborative
Their process is structured in three parts: planning, conducting, and synthesis & sharing.
Planning
Start with clear objectives and choose methods based upon them. Our project goals should inform research objectives, which in turn inform the methods and protocols you’ll design and use. Research objectives should be:
- specific
- comprehensive
- attainable
- relevant
- shared
Conducting
Be sure to have a plan! Organization and gathering data systematically is key to being able to make sense of the information we collect. Streamlining and simplifying information and forms—both for ourselves and our participants—helps in gathering and sorting data. We should come with a structure for the information we are collecting.
Synthesizing & Sharing
We should make explicit time for sensemaking together, directly after. We should share our findings in a way that ties back to what we noticed. What we saw/heard informs what we learned, which will then inform what this means for design.
Another way of saying this is that the insights we identify speak to the implications we form. Drawing from several of these implications, we can then form design principles which act as guideposts for us during the design process.
Gathering our Questions and Assumptions
In Figma, we gathered the questions and assumptions we‘ve been forming over the past 3 weeks. We sorted our questions into larger themes to help us understand what we, as a team, are interested in exploring. Interestingly, only one question arose about the physical manifestation of the cancer binder itself.
Collectively, we decided that “making patients feel safe” was the most important grouping.
Treatment Procedure
- How can patients more preemptively understand their current symptoms after treatments without having to contact their care team?
- How long does the treatment typically last, and what is the expected recovery time? and how can we communicate that more clearly? (education)
- How frequently will the patient need follow-up appointments or monitoring during and after treatment?
- How do we build systems that allow people to care for themselves? Without making them feel like they’re doing work. (patient empowerment / information-seeking)
Educate Patients
- Is there a way to communicate the value of screenings? Is this helpful/effective?
- How might we educate about the female anatomy and physicality of cancer so that they better understand their disease?
- How might we encourage people to ask for resources? Especially hardships. (empowerment)
- How might we improve the experience so that everyone can understand? (reading, design, information finding, accessibility)
- How might we include more information regarding sexual health? Palliative care?
- How can we get people the information they need when they need it?
- How might we list resources to encourage patients to reach out?
- How might we allow patients to personalize information?
Binder
- How can this “binder” be evolving to fit the needs to each patient?
Making Patients Feel Safe
- How might we communicate that the cancer treatment journey isn’t just one path: there are choices along the way (wig, gloves, treatments)?
- What is it that you give to this person and their caregiver that gives them the greatest confidence and hope?
- How can we create visuals that are more safe, uplifting, and welcoming?
- How can we make space for emotions — positive and negative?
- How might we introduce new patients in a way that is welcoming and provide them with confidence?
- How might we introduce a personal touch?
- How might we empower/include caregivers?How can we engage spaces? and make them interactive? (physical space)
- How can we help patients understand how the places and spaces connect? Can we show them where to expect their appointments and treatments? (physical space)
Building Relationships
- How might we build supportive community?
Time with Care Team
- Is there a way to more productively have questions answered by doctors after patients leave their appointment?
- How can we support patients to answer questions outside the appointment time?
- How might we help patients prioritize the important questions during 15-minute appointments?
- How might we increase Q&A efficiency during in-person sessions? may forget to ask during the session.
Care for Care Team
- Could we make something that also helps healthcare workers and their caregivers?
- How might we implement change that helps healthcare workers, rather than adding 1 more thing to their list?
Quotes
KH
“When you learn that you have cancer, you need a good resource. What do you give someone and their caregiver that gives them the greatest confidence and hope?”
Regarding the chemo binder: “Was this the voice of my doctor that I hadn’t met yet?”
Regarding the chemo binder: “I was terrified of having to unpack this.”
Regarding the drug information sheets: “If you read this after reading this [chemo binder], it’s like my life is over.”
Next Steps
From these research questions, we identified themes emerging. Our next step is to set goals for our design research. We’ll turn our goals into more actionable objectives and find methods that appropriately capture the information we desire.
Next week we should be spending time at UPMC Magee-Women’s Hospital, learning more about the physical spaces in which cancer care and treatment take place.
The work for this project comes from the Designing for CARE course, designed by Kristin Hughes for the School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University. This course is a collaboration between the School of Design and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
