with Susan Dybbs and Esther Ahn

There is an increased awareness for the need to consciously design services, especially within the realm of health care. Although health care services have been planned and developed in the past, the design community has only recently become involved in this domain.

Design research has predominantly focused on qualitative methods. While these methods aid in revealing insights that shape solutions, they have limitations. Specifically, they do not provide measures in which to track improvement. In our research with UPMC and The Center for Quality Improvement and Innovation, we focused on applying human-centered design methods to understand the patient and hospital staff experience. We discovered that methods such as observational interviews had to be adapted to work within the complex hospital setting. Using our insights from this experience, we will discuss the adaptation of design methods for service.

About Susan Dybbs and Esther Ahn

Susan Dybbs recently graduated with her Masters of Interaction Design at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Design. Her passion for untangling complex problems has led her to work in areas such as healthcare, data management, banking, and information visualization. She has honed her expertise for creating people-centered products, services, and systems at companies such as Microsoft, Smart Design, and Bank of America.

Esther Ahn is a Design Analyst at frog design where she works closely with clients to transform ideas into compelling products and services. Prior to joining frog, she was involved with strategic design projects for General Motors, 3M, and Hewlett-Packard. Her research interests lie in understanding how design languages may be used to simplify user interactions with systems, services, products, and environments. Esther Ahn holds a Masters in Interaction Design from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.A. In Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley.