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Mayo Clinic: Design Thinking in Health Care – Case Study Synopsis & Teaching Objectives

Design Thinking in Health Care

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW — Volume 15 — September 27, 2018

Myra Altman, PhD 1 ,2,3 ; Terry T.K. Huang, PhD, MPH, MBA 4 ; Jessica Y. Breland, PhD 2 ( View author affiliations )

Suggested citation for this article: Altman M, Huang TT, Breland JY. Design Thinking in Health Care. Prev Chronic Dis 2018;15:180128. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd15.180128 external icon .

PEER REVIEWED

Introduction

Acknowledgments, author information.

Applying Design Thinking to health care could enhance innovation, efficiency, and effectiveness by increasing focus on patient and provider needs. The objective of this review is to determine how Design Thinking has been used in health care and whether it is effective.

We searched online databases (PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PyscINFO) for articles published through March 31, 2017, using the terms “health,” “health care,” or “healthcare”; and “Design Thinking,” “design science,” “design approach,” “user centered design,” or “human centered design.” Studies were included if they were written in English, were published in a peer-reviewed journal, provided outcome data on a health-related intervention, and used Design Thinking in intervention development, implementation, or both. Data were collected on target users, health conditions, intervention, Design Thinking approach, study design or sample, and health outcomes. Studies were categorized as being successful (all outcomes improved), having mixed success (at least one outcome improved), or being not successful (no outcomes improved).

Twenty-four studies using Design Thinking were included across 19 physical health conditions, 2 mental health conditions, and 3 systems processes. Twelve were successful, 11 reported mixed success, and one was not successful. All 4 studies comparing Design Thinking interventions to traditional interventions showed greater satisfaction, usability, and effectiveness.

Design Thinking is being used in varied health care settings and conditions, although application varies. Design Thinking may result in usable, acceptable, and effective interventions, although there are methodological and quality limitations. More research is needed, including studies to isolate critical components of Design Thinking and compare Design Thinking–based interventions with traditionally developed interventions.

Health care systems require continuous innovation to meet the needs of patients and providers (1,2). However, these stakeholders are not always considered when new interventions or system processes are designed, which results in products that remain unused because they do not account for human context, need, or fallibility (3,4). This approach also likely contributes to the decades-long gaps between intervention development and implementation (5). Design Thinking offers a way to close that gap by helping investigators incorporate user needs and feedback throughout the development process.

Design Thinking is an approach that prioritizes developing empathy for users, working in collaborative multidisciplinary teams, and using “action-oriented rapid prototyping” of solutions (2,6). It is an iterative process, with innovation emerging only after cycling through several rounds of ideation, prototyping, and testing, which distinguishes it from the traditional linear and often top-down approach to health intervention design (Figure 1) (1,2,4). Design Thinking has been used across sectors to solve complex problems, including the redesign of an elementary school curriculum to enhance student engagement (7), and in domains such as aviation (8) that, like health care, have high levels of risk. Design Thinking is similar to both “user-centered design” and “human-centered design,” which are both referred to as “Design Thinking” in this article.

Figure 1. Design Thinking process, stages of design thinking and examples of exercises used and questions asked in each stage, systematic review on Design Thinking in health care, search results through March 31, 2017. [A text description of this figure is available.]

There is much enthusiasm for the use of Design Thinking in health care, from intervention development to large-scale organizational and systems changes (9). However, health care settings present different challenges than do other domains, so it is important to consider these challenges in assessing whether Design Thinking provides added benefit over traditional approaches. With this in mind, the purpose of this review was to answer the questions, “How has Design Thinking been used to design interventions in health care settings, and have these interventions been effective?”

Data sources

Studies published through March 31, 2017, were identified through searches of online databases (PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PyscINFO) using the following search terms: “health,” “health care,” or “healthcare”; and “Design Thinking,” “design science,” “design approach,” “user centered design,” or “human centered design.” Additional articles were included if they were referenced as original research articles in existing articles. To provide an overview of the range of uses of the Design Thinking approach, we did not limit our review to specific populations or conditions and included articles addressing multiple health promotion and disease prevention topics. Given the search terms, the likely target populations for inclusion were patients and health care professionals and the settings in which they work or seek care.

Study selection

We reviewed selected articles using PRISMA guidelines (10,11) and entered citations into a reference manager, which removed duplicates. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to be written in English, be published in a peer-reviewed journal, provide outcome data on a health-related intervention, and use Design Thinking in intervention development, implementation or both.

There are multiple definitions of Design Thinking, so we focused on the key principles common to most descriptions of the approach; thus, the list of Design Thinking approaches is not exhaustive. Studies were considered to use Design Thinking if they 1) described user/needs assessment, 2) involved iterative prototyping/testing of the intervention with user feedback, and 3) tested the intervention with target users (2,4). The user/needs assessment could include contextual observation of users in the setting in which they would interact with the innovation, interviews, narrative accounts, and documentation from users, gathering extreme user/outlier stories or a review of existing literature and work (2,6). Prototyping included activities such as creating a series of low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes of the potential innovation and refining it multiple times through iterative cycles of feedback from end users, stakeholders, and experts. Testing the intervention with target users included implementing and testing the innovation while continuing to refine it on the basis of user feedback and data (1,2,4). Design Thinking is also similar to other techniques, such as plan-do-study-act cycles and formative evaluations. We considered the emphasis on empathizing with the user and the use of low-fidelity prototyping to be key distinguishing features of Design Thinking, so only articles that explicitly indicate their use of these approaches were included. Initial screening was completed for all selected abstracts, and a second round of screening was completed on eligible full-text articles.

Data abstraction

Data were collected on target users, health conditions, objective of the intervention, details on the Design Thinking process, study design and sample, and reported health outcomes. If information was not reported in the article, we contacted the study authors. Studies were also evaluated to determine whether the intervention improved all targeted outcomes (successful), at least one targeted outcome (mixed success), or no targeted outcomes (not successful). Data quality was assessed using the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Study Quality Assessment Tools (12).

Study extraction

Figure 2 presents study flow based on the PRISMA study guidelines (10,11). After the initial search, the authors separately screened all abstracts based on the eligibility criteria. One author reviewed all full-text articles (N = 297), and a second author reviewed roughly 15% as a reliability check. Agreement on inclusion/exclusion was more than 80%. Any abstracts or articles for which there was disagreement or uncertainty were reviewed by 2 authors and discussed until consensus was reached. A total of 26 papers representing 24 interventions were included in the analysis. Two authors reviewed all included studies.

Figure 2. PRISMA 2009 flow diagram, systematic review on Design Thinking in health care, search results through March 31, 2017. [A text description of this figure is available.]

Study characteristics

A summary of all included studies is provided in ( Table 1 ). Eleven studies were successful (13–25), 12 reported mixed success (26–37), and one reported no success (38) (Table 1 and Table 2 ). Sample sizes of included studies ranged from 12 to 291, but most studies were small; 14 studies had fewer than 40 participants. Eleven (45.8%) used a control group (15,17,18,24,26–29,31,33,35,38,42), and 4 (16.6%) compared a design-thinking intervention to an intervention designed using traditional methods (17,18,24,26,35). Two of the studies included were “good” quality, 13 were “fair” quality, and 9 were “poor” quality. All studies used Design Thinking methodology in intervention development, and 3 also used it for implementation (16,20,25,43)

The 24 included interventions targeted a range of conditions, including 19 related to physical health (17 unique conditions), 2 related to mental health, and 3 related to systems processes. Approximately two-thirds of the interventions were mobile telephone–based or tablet-based.

Summary of findings by target user

Patient-facing interventions (n = 11). Five interventions were successful: 4 with a pre/post design (13,19,22,23,44) and 1 pilot randomized control trial (RCT) (15). Five reported mixed success, including one pre/post design (31), one pilot RCT (29), one RCT (28), one cohort study (47), and one unblinded, randomized crossover design (33). One, a pilot RCT, was not successful (46).

Provider-facing interventions (n = 9). Six were successful, including 3 studies using a pre/post design (16,20,25), one field experiment (14), one using a quasi-experimental crossover design (24), and one cross-sectional study (21). Three had mixed success, including 2 studies with an experimental crossover design (17,18,26) and one with primarily a pre/post design, one portion of which was a randomized crossover design (35).

Patient-facing and provider-facing interventions (n = 2). Both reported mixed success and were pre/post designs (30,34,45).

Caregiver-facing or family-facing interventions (n = 2). Both reported mixed success, one in a pilot RCT (27,39) and one using a pre/post design (32).

Summary of Randomized-Controlled Trials (K = 5). Of the RCTs and pilot RCTs reviewed, one demonstrated success on all outcomes (15,40), 3 showed mixed success (27–29,39,41), and one reported no enduring significant results (38,46).

Summary of studies directly testing Design Thinking methodology

Four studies directly compared interventions created with Design Thinking to interventions created with traditional methods. In one study with a within-sample experimental crossover design (26), a Design Thinking–based graphical information display to improve nurses’ ability to detect changes in patients’ physiological states in an intensive care unit (ICU) was compared with a conventional display in commercial, electronic ICU charting systems. The Design Thinking intervention resulted in improved detection of changes in patient states and greater ease of use, usefulness, satisfaction, and support of understanding, but no differences in workload for nurses (26). Another study using an experimental crossover design compared 2 computer interfaces designed to display drug interaction alerts, one developed using Design Thinking and one using traditional software (17,18). Whereas the design of the traditional software was not described, the traditional display included only basic text information. In this study, users (ICU nurses) were more efficient and effective, and reported higher satisfaction with the Design Thinking interface. Another study using a quasi-experimental crossover design used Design Thinking to develop an application to guide clinicians in detecting and scoring the severity of graft versus host disease (GvHD) (24). When compared with paper-based NIH guidelines, users of the application (app) signficantly improved diagnostic and scoring accuracy. A final study compared a Design Thinking–based app that provided nurses with information about antibiotic use with regular information sources (which were not described) (35). In the randomized portion of this study, nurses using the app found information on antibiotic use more quickly; however, the app did not enhance their ability to improve antibiotic-related behaviors. (Only 7 participants were included in the randomized portion of the study.) Whereas the development of the control intervention was not fully described in these papers, based on the limited descriptions given, it is likely that it did not include key elements of Design Thinking such as user feedback and prototyping.

The 24 interventions summarized in this review provide an overview of the breadth of Design Thinking’s applicability in health care and demonstrate that it is feasible and applicable to multiple health care domains. It has been applied across a range of diverse patient populations and conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (28,34), diabetes (34,47), caregiver stress (27), and posttraumatic stress disorder (22). It also has been applied to systems process changes, such as nursing handoffs (16) and drug–drug interaction alerts (17,18). Results also demonstrate that, although it is often applied to electronic interventions, Design Thinking is feasible for use in other modalities (eg, on paper, in person).

Initial results of the interventions included in this review are promising; all but one demonstrated positive effects on at least one identified outcome, and half showed positive effects on all measured outcomes. In addition, in the studies that directly compared the Design Thinking intervention with a traditional intervention, the Design Thinking intervention generally demonstrated improved outcomes and higher usability and satisfaction.

However, none of these studies were RCTs with large sample sizes. Design Thinking interventions have been tested primarily in pre/post designs or pilot RCTs with small samples. Furthermore, most studies included were poor or fair quality, with only 2 being considered good quality. Importantly, the criteria used to assess quality were based on traditional research approaches, and many of the features of poor-quality studies were included by design; some had small sample sizes to generate insights and to test assumptions rapidly, and some were pilot studies. This feature of Design Thinking also may account for the limited use of large RCTs; however, this poses a challenge when evaluating the effectiveness of the approach. More work in this area using more rigorous methods and larger samples is critical to fully understanding the benefits of Design Thinking. Although many studies that used Design Thinking were excluded from our review because they did not include sufficient outcome data (n = 131), full-scale trials of many of these interventions are under way, results of which will provide more evidence about the effectiveness of this approach in health care. In addition, no studies measured Design Thinking directly to explain how or what components of Design Thinking lead to improved usability and effectiveness, limiting the field’s ability to disseminate the most effective components and refine the Design Thinking approach for health care.

Design Thinking methods varied among the studies reviewed. For example, only 6 studies conducted contextual observations of users during the needs assessment phase, no studies reported a brainstorming stage, 10 studies did not use low-fidelity prototypes, and some reported a small number of iterations (eg, one mixed-success trial had 4 intervention iterations, but only 2 iterations were evaluated with target users [27]). Using more thorough and structured Design Thinking methodology may have resulted in more consistent and enhanced outcomes. At the same time, Design Thinking is meant to be flexibly applied. Future work should balance that flexibility with the potential benefits of a more systematic approach.

Our results suggest that one area where Design Thinking could be especially useful is in designing interventions for underserved populations whose needs may be overlooked by other approaches. For example, the study of a mobile health tool for detecting and managing cardiovascular disease in rural India required significant feedback from the end users — minimally trained health workers — to ensure that the intervention was suited to their level of technological familiarity as well as the inconsistent technical infrastructure (eg, creating a one-touch navigation system) (21). Using Design Thinking allowed the multidisciplinary team to question assumptions and biases and develop an intervention that was successful, acceptable, and feasible to the actual users, an outcome that may not have been possible using traditional methods (21). Another study evaluated the impact of an education tool to enhance long-acting contraceptive use in a clinic serving mostly African American patients who were included early in the usability testing process to ensure the tool met their needs. Several changes were made as a result, such as including more peer testimonials, which likely increased the tool’s impact and relevance (29). In this way, Design Thinking could also pair well with other approaches that prioritize the inclusion of users in service of reducing health disparities, such as community-based participatory research (48).

Tensions when using Design Thinking in health care

In their text and through our analysis, the studies included in this review show several challenges to consider when applying Design Thinking to health care. First, there is the possibility of tension between what users want and what providers and researchers believe to be beneficial based on research and expertise (49). Whereas in industry, where an innovation designer may prioritize customers’ preferences to maximize profits, in health care a balance must be struck between creating interventions that are effective and sufficiently palatable and feasible so that they will be used by providers and patients.

Second, tension may exist between the needs assessment, a fundamental step of Design Thinking, and existing literature and evidence base for some conditions. That is, given the evidence, intervention developers may not be willing or see it necessary to conduct their own needs assessment using observation or interview strategies or to brainstorm creative solutions. Indeed, 7 of the studies included in this review reported literature reviews, and possibly expert consultation, as their only needs assessment steps, and none reported brainstorming. One way to overcome this tension is to view evidence as a set of design constraints in which needs assessment, brainstorming, ideation, and prototyping should occur.

A third possible tension relates to balancing the Design Thinking approach of understanding the narrative of outliers with traditional health research methods that prioritize statistics on large samples to produce generalizable results. Conclusions drawn from small user samples should be tested in broader populations to ensure their applicability. Mixed-methods approaches that use both strategies may reduce this tension. For example, a research team that uses a qualitative Design Thinking approach early in the research process (eg, user observations, focus groups, and usability tests with small groups of target users) may be able to generate insights into the key needs of the target population. This approach may also find ways to address these needs, and subsequent quantitative testing of the developed interventions in broader samples will allow the group to evaluate whether their assumptions generalize to the broader population, and the intervention will be more effective as a result.

Fourth, there is inherent tension between a central philosophy of the prototyping process in Design Thinking — to rapidly move through low-fidelity then high-fidelity iterations to fail early and often to more quickly reach a better design (50) — and the risk of serious negative outcomes due to health care failures (eg, death). Many of the studies did not use low-fidelity prototyping or multiple rapid iterations, perhaps because of this tension. However, although there may be some reluctance to experiment with low-fidelity prototypes in health care where morbidity and mortality are at stake, there are low-stakes approaches to low-fidelity prototyping that may minimize risk and improve the pace of innovation (eg, storyboards to illustrate a new clinic process).

Intervention development and implementation: case example

Considering the role of Design Thinking is important, not only in efficacious intervention development but also in effective implementation into practice (5). Only 3 of the included interventions addressed implementation, but this limited implementation provides insights. For example, in designing a new process for facilitating nurse handoffs between shifts, Lin and colleagues conducted an extensive 6-month intervention development design process that was user-focused and empathic and had rapid iteration in pilot sites (43). However, despite this strong preliminary work, the intervention was not readily accepted when implemented in other clinics. As a participant stated:

After the concepts had been co-developed and field tested with our pilot units . . . we assumed the units were “bought in” to the idea of the change. . . . Surprisingly, our approach to the training resulted in criticism and created skepticism [at other clinics]. . . . They attributed this to “not made here” sentiments from those units not involved in the original design.

To overcome this tension, the team involved additional stakeholders to develop a more user-centered process for the implementation of their Design Thinking innovation, after which they successfully implemented the innovation across 125 nursing units in 14 hospitals over 2 years (16). This study highlights the importance of understanding the context of the setting and users, both when developing and implementing an intervention using a Design Thinking approach. It should also be noted that this process required significant time and energy from stakeholders. One stakeholder commented, “Don’t get me wrong. What we did was fantastic. But it took a lot out of us” (43). This study highlights the importance of staying true to the user-centered nature of Design Thinking throughout the process — from development to implementation — to maximize implementation success. It also highlights the challenges in using this approach. Teams using Design Thinking should be prepared for a more intensive process than traditional, less iterative and user-centered methods.

Limitations

Given the varied outcomes included in the review and the inconsistent reporting of qualitative outcomes it was difficult to make comparisons across studies. The range of study types and limited number of large scale RCTs testing intervention effects also made it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about effectiveness. At the same time, given that there was only one study with a null result, there was likely publication bias, which may have led to overestimation of the effectiveness of Design Thinking. It is also possible that investigators used methods but did not report them (eg, prototyping). In addition, we did not assess the use of Design Thinking in other health care areas where it may be beneficial, such as the design of physical spaces. Finally, Design Thinking–based health care innovations that were developed and implemented outside research contexts may exist and are thus not reported in the literature.

Conclusions

Design Thinking is being used in varied health care settings and health conditions, and more studies are forthcoming. This review suggests that Design Thinking may result in more usable, acceptable, and effective interventions compared with traditional expert-driven methods. However, there is inconsistent use of the methodology and significant limitations inherent in the studies, which limits our ability to draw conclusions about this approach. Future studies may benefit from focusing on comparing interventions developed using Design Thinking methods with traditionally developed interventions, including those with RCT designs, and identifying the most useful components of Design Thinking methods.

Overall, Design Thinking is a promising approach to intervention development, implementation, and dissemination that may increase the acceptability and effectiveness of health care interventions by actively engaging patients and providers in the design process and rapidly iterating innovation prototypes to maximize success.

The research was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration, Health Services Research and Development Service (HSR&D). Dr Breland is a VA HSR&D Career Development awardee at the VA Palo Alto (15-257). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs. There is no copyrighted material used in this article, and no copyrighted surveys, instruments, or tools were used in this article.

The authors thank Ms Elon Hailu for her help editing the manuscript. At the time of the research, Dr Altman was affiliated with the Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, California.

Corresponding Author: Myra Altman, PhD, Postdoctoral Design Fellow, Clinical Excellence Research Center, Stanford University, 75 Alta Rd, Stanford, CA 94305. Telephone: 603-306-6231. Email: [email protected] .

Author Affiliations: 1 Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. 2 VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, California. 3 Stanford University, Stanford, California. 4 Center for Systems and Community Design, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, City University of New York, New York, New York.

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Abbreviation: DNR, did not report; NA, not applicable; RCT, randomized control trial; a If 2 studies are cited, the earlier article is the intervention development methodology and the later article is the evaluation study.

Abbreviations: App, application; CI, confidence interval; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; GvHD, graft vs host disease; HBA1c, hemoglobin A1c; HCAHPS, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems; HRQOL, health-related quality of life; IGID, integrated graphical information display; IUD, intrauterine device; NKE, nurse knowledge exchange plus; PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder; SD, standard deviation a All results significant at P < .05.

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Design Thinking in Healthcare

From Problem to Innovative Solutions

• © 2023
• Anni Pakarinen   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9077-1663 0 ,
• Thomas Lemström 1 ,
• Eeva Rainio   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5632-0455 2 ,
• Eriikka Siirala   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3462-5538 3

Faculty of Medicine Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

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SPARK Finland, Turku, Finland

Faculty of medicine, university of turku, turku, finland.

• Presents design thinking for nurses and other healthcare professionals to develop their abilities
• Offers a great potential in the health industry
• Initiates students and professionals to design thinking through practical and inspiring case studies

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

Front matter, why design thinking matters in healthcare.

Anni Pakarinen

Ethical Aspects and Innovations in Healthcare

• Helena Siipi, Mari Kangasniemi

Design Thinking Toolkit for Healthcare Innovation

• Beate Rygg Johnsen

Design Thinking in Healthcare Education

• Isabella Hajduk, Annika Nordberg, Eeva Rainio

Design Thinking Driven Solutions for Health

• Janne Pühvel, Janne Kommusaar, Annika Nordberg

Using Design Thinking in Nursing Management and Leadership

• Eriikka Siirala, Outi Tuominen, Sanna Salanterä

Co-creation and Change in Healthcare

• Laura Niemi

New Business Creation in Health Technology

• Kaapo Seppälä

What is the Importance of Design Thinking for Future Healthcare?

Thomas Lemström

• Health education
• Health professionals
• Healthcare innovation
• Empathizing
• Innovation process
• Prototyping
• Patient-centered approach
• Health technology
• Service design
• Business design

About this book

Editors and affiliations.

Eeva Rainio, Eriikka Siirala

About the editors

Anni Pakarinen (PhD, MHSc, RN) is a Senior researcher and Research manager in Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Finland. Her research focuses on health promotion and digital interventions, particularly on serious games and gamified applications. She leads several digital health projects and is experienced in developing, evaluating and implementing interventions for health. During recent years, she has been involved in planning and organizing several international and multiprofessional Design thinking courses at the University of Turku.

Eeva Rainio (PhD) is Head of Faculty Development at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Finland. She has a PhD in molecular biology, and she has been working in university administration since 2010, first in MSc and doctoral program coordination, and then with strategic development, innovations and business collaboration. She has also played a significant role in introducing Design Thinking to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Turku, after her visit in Stanford d.school in 2019.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title : Design Thinking in Healthcare

Book Subtitle : From Problem to Innovative Solutions

Editors : Anni Pakarinen, Thomas Lemström, Eeva Rainio, Eriikka Siirala

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24510-7

Publisher : Springer Cham

eBook Packages : Medicine , Medicine (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-031-24509-1 Published: 12 April 2023

eBook ISBN : 978-3-031-24510-7 Published: 11 April 2023

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XI, 119

Number of Illustrations : 2 b/w illustrations, 16 illustrations in colour

Topics : Nursing , Health Care Management , Practice and Hospital Management , Health Policy

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Design Thinking in Healthcare

The approach of Design Thinking is a method of problem-solving that focuses on human behavior and needs. The process employs empathy, voluminous idea generation, rapid prototyping , and continuous testing to tackle complex challenges. 

“Human-centered design is about meeting people where they are and really taking their needs and feedback into account. When you let people participate in the design process, you find that they often have ingenious ideas about what would really help them.” — Melinda French Gates

Healthcare UX designers focus their efforts firstly on understanding how the system functions, and secondly, on the needs of the participants within that system (patients, providers, insurance companies, pharmacists, etc.) before coming up with solutions. 

They rely on their thorough understanding of all the stakeholders to map the rest of the process. And because UX design thinking is iterative, feedback is sought early and often, especially from users on both sides.

Health design thinking can encompass the entire spectrum of the experience — beginning from when a patient gets to the hospital/clinic to what happens when he goes back home and post-visit care. 

There is an increased need to focus more on understanding the patient experience at a deeper level to solve whatever problems both sides encounter, along with enhancing the overall experience and lowering its costs.

How does Design Thinking in Healthcare work?

Design thinking makes you listen, really listen.

The Research phase of the design process involves the study of the actual user demographic to gain meaningful insights into their behavior. User research techniques include contextual inquiries, user interviews, surveys and questionnaires, observational studies, etc., which do the job of mapping the user journey from the point of origin to the destination – and thereby covering their pain points at various stages. 

The synthesis part of the process is where the collected data is analyzed and made sense of. Conducted in succession, these methods manage to give a voice to the patients, caregivers, as well as stakeholders, letting all three sides weigh their opinions regarding the entire system and be heard.

Thus, in the further stages of design when the actual solution building happens based on user experience, it ends up being high on utility, practicality, and financial feasibility, solely because it is not sourced through thin air and is instead focused on solving real-world user problems in real-time.

Case in point –

A study investigating the hypothesis that improving access to healthcare for the transportation-disadvantaged population revealed that 3.6 million people miss or delay/reschedule their medical appointments due to issues related to unreliable transportation. This accounts for billions of dollars in annual costs for healthcare providers across the nation. These missed or last-minute reschedules end up creating several operational challenges as well, like schedule disruptions of care providers to interference with patient care and treatment. 

The specific reasons behind these no-show cases hold the key to improving the overall patient experience and saving those billions that go down the drain. In such cases, User Experience (UX) research and synthesis deep dives into observing and assimilating user behavior — from what happens before people get to the hospital to what happens after they leave — reveals telling insights that usually go unnoticed. 

Ideation – a phase of design thinking (healthcare) which is an iterative process of finding creative solutions – is what helps keep up with this frenetic pace of progress.

As the healthcare sector evolves , so do its problems. Improved healthcare, for instance, is a huge factor in increased longevity, which throws up the complex challenges of handling a growing population of the elderly. Another instance is centered around the increased awareness of mental health – considering that isolation and loneliness can be as debilitating to human life as cancer or diabetes. These are the challenges confronting the healthcare ecosystem at the moment, the kind of questions that require a deeper understanding of user behavior and curating unique solutions directed at specific as against generic problems.

Also read:   Design Standards to save lives – UX in Healthcare

The ideation techniques in the design process involve brainstorming wherein designers, based on the research data, come up with feasible and creative solutions to solve problems in an efficient, budget-friendly manner. These ideas are turned into simple prototypes, which may be used in user testing to ensure that the solution is headed in the right direction. Based on the feedback gained in the user testing phase, the prototypes are further refined before being moved to design.

Design Thinking for Healthcare at Koru

A whopping 62% of practitioners in the United States were unable to access telehealth through their Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems during the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic managed to bring into focus some deep-rooted problems within the healthcare system. The crisis saw them turn to nascent tools of telehealth or makeshift options such as Facetime or Skype.

Since more than 95% of hospitals in the United States make use of a certified EHR platform, the most plausible solution would be to integrate the EHR system with a telehealth platform. Our goals for this project were to ensure improved remote care for patients, and reduced mortality rates for the chronically ill, while maintaining the highest standards of security and privacy. 

As part of our research, we consulted senior subject matter experts and users since a large segment of the providers was in the age bracket of 50-60. The solution had to cater to their specific accessibility-based needs and resolve challenges related to provider burnout.

Our telehealth-integrated EHR solution became an umbrella tool for providers. It enabled them to view clinical documents, patient history, video interactions, and audio files on the patient’s profile page with minimal clicks. Most significantly, the addition of AI-powered Natural Language Processing (NLP) simplified accents and offered translations in real-time which helped negate the cognitive burden of post-call documentation. 

Easy access to patient records led to improved diagnosis and clinical decisions. It helped reduce the long hours spent on documentation, as physicians could now refer to notes and transcripts and not just rely on their ability to recall, thus making the data more authentic and reducing the potential for error.

This telehealth-integrated EHR solution is being used for 1.5 million minutes per day across hospitals and healthcare practitioners. It was among the first few integrated solutions to have reduced patient demands on facilities and yet help deliver top-grade care through 80,000 facilities covering 130,000+ physicians, and 850,000+ healthcare professionals in the US.

Our project bagged the prestigious iF Design Award in the User Interface category and the A’ Design Award in the User Interaction category in 2021. 

Design Thinking is not just for designers

Applying the principles of design thinking does not necessarily require a designer’s qualification. Amitha Kalaichandran wrote in this New York Times article how a nurse working in the ED unit of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, suggested a simple yet innovative idea that the team leader in trauma cases wear a bright, easy-to-spot orange vest. This was to deal with a situation “in which a huddle of highly stressed emergency room staff members spoke over one another and there were no clear roles.” 

For trauma teams that constantly deal with high-strung situations requiring lightning-fast decision-making, this tiny change “has helped clarify who’s in charge and strengthened communication among members.”

Thus, the key aspects of implementing design thinking do not involve rocket science, but are only centered upon –

• Empathy for the user , likely to be a patient or care provider
• Interdisciplinary collaborations
• Prompt prototyping of the innovation

Employing design thinking (UX)  methodologies and techniques enable healthcare providers to revise their perspectives – they begin to see their patients as human first, and patients on a secondary level. 

Alzheimer’s disease is currently the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S. and kills more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. With 5.8 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease, this number is projected to rise to nearly 14 million by 2050. Early diagnosis is key to fighting this disease, however, only 50% of those living with it are diagnosed. The Alzheimer’s Association leveraged design thinking to uncover ways for speedy diagnosis. 

Leading voices in the healthcare system are now in favor of taking a “consumer-centric” approach, focusing their digital investments on improving patient experiences and newer forms of care delivery, especially since the onset of the pandemic.

Design Thinking in Pharmaceutical Industry

Patients often discover that remembering their medication schedules can be a bigger problem than the disease itself. From fetching medication from the pharmacy to ensuring its expiration dates haven’t passed by, to remembering which one is to be consumed with food, the complete process can be overwhelming for patients and caregivers.

PillPack , an online pharmacy portal applied the principles of design thinking in healthcare to build a prescription home-delivery system that takes the pain out of the whole process. 

“PillPack has revealed the massive potential of combining design thinking and the drug market… This simple innovation makes life easier for seniors who can be a bit forgetful and have difficulty with bottles,” described Wired magazine in a feature article showcasing their UX-first approach.

Future Prospects of Health Design Thinking 

Design thinking is key to enabling the healthcare sector to become proactive instead of reactive. Healthcare is no longer relegated to the environs of a hospital or clinic. Monitoring human health is now a 24/7 activity with apps and wearables being an integral aspect of life as we know it. 

Areas posing design challenges in healthcare

1. Hygiene and cleanliness

2. Lack of empathy while dealing with patients

3. Monitoring stocks

4. Technology integration

5. Patient transportation

6. Diagnostics

7. Treatment processes

8. Communication issues between healthcare providers and patients

9. Environmental impact and carbon footprint

10. Data security threats

“ It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me .” – Batman

Design thinking is just like Batman – it’s always able to look for creative solutions to problems. It organizes scattered ideas and brings about subtle differences which make an impact. The purpose of design thinking is to delight users and to do so, the process employs methods that mix science and art with creativity and innovation. It requires decision-makers to empathize with patients, think creatively, ideate, and continually test solutions to these problems.

The purpose of design thinking is to delight users and to do so, the process employs methods that mix science and art with creativity and innovation.

More Resources:

AI in Surgery: Revolutionizing Healthcare Healthcare Industry Trends that Made an Impact in 2019 and Beyond 4 Factors That Determine the Usability of Your Healthcare App

Founder & CEO

Bansi Mehta

The Founder-CEO of Koru UX Design, Bansi Mehta is a seasoned UX practitioner with over a decade of experience. She specializes in design ops and innovation discovery at the business level. She has led interdisciplinary teams to curate superior, user-centric experiences for B2B SaaS startups, SMBs, and legacy products in the healthcare sector.

Discover more insights

HEALTHCARE Design Standards to save lives –  UX in Healthcare Read more

HEALTHCARE Understanding the Goals of Patient Portals Read more

HEALTHCARE Healthcare Industry Trends that Made an Impact in 2019 and Beyond Read more

BUSINESS Dealing with Teams That Do Not Believe in Minimum Viable Product Read more

HEALTHCARE Every Stakeholder Wins: The Broad Reach of UX in Modern Healthcare Read more

HEALTHCARE How Telehealth Offered Responsible Healthcare During the Pandemic Read more

HEALTHCARE How to Boost Patient Portal Engagement with UX Read more

HEALTHCARE 5 Healthcare UI Designs That Demonstrate Ease of Use Read more

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10 Successful Design Thinking Case Study

Dive into the realm of Successful Design Thinking Case Studies to explore the power of this innovative problem-solving approach. Begin by understanding What is Design Thinking? and then embark on a journey through real-world success stories. Discover valuable lessons learned from these case studies and gain insights into how Design Thinking can transform your approach.

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Design Thinking has emerged as a powerful problem-solving approach that places empathy, creativity, and innovation at the forefront. However, if you are not aware of the power that this approach holds, a Design Thinking Case Study is often used to help people address the complex challenges of this approach with a human-centred perspective. It allows organisations to unlock new opportunities and drive meaningful change. Read this blog on Design Thinking Case Study to learn how it enhances organisation’s growth and gain valuable insights on creative problem-solving.

Table of Contents   

1) What is Design Thinking?

2) Design Thinking process   

3) Successful Design Thinking Case Studies

      a) Airbnb

      b) Apple

      c) Netflix

      d) UberEats

      e) IBM

       f) OralB’s electric toothbrush

      g) IDEO

      h) Tesla

       i) GE Healthcare

       j) Nike

3) Lessons learned from Design Thinking Case Studies

4) Conclusion    

What is Design Thinking ?

Before jumping on Design Thinking Case Study, let’s first understand what it is. Design Thinking is a methodology for problem-solving that prioritises the understanding and addressing of individuals' unique needs.

This human-centric approach is creative and iterative, aiming to find innovative solutions to complex challenges. At its core, Design Thinking fosters empathy, encourages collaboration, and embraces experimentation.

This process revolves around comprehending the world from the user's perspective, identifying problems through this lens, and then generating and refining solutions that cater to these specific needs. Design Thinking places great importance on creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, seeking to break away from conventional problem-solving methods.

It is not confined to the realm of design but can be applied to various domains, from business and technology to healthcare and education. By putting the user or customer at the centre of the problem-solving journey, Design Thinking helps create products, services, and experiences that are more effective, user-friendly, and aligned with the genuine needs of the people they serve.  

Design Thinking process

Design Thinking is a problem-solving and innovation framework that helps individuals and teams create user-centred solutions. This process consists of five key phases that are as follows:  

To initiate the Design Thinking process, the first step is to practice empathy. In order to create products and services that are appealing, it is essential to comprehend the users and their requirements. What are their anticipations regarding the product you are designing? What issues and difficulties are they encountering within this particular context?

During the empathise phase, you spend time observing and engaging with real users. This might involve conducting interviews and seeing how they interact with an existing product. You should pay attention to facial expressions and body language. During the empathise phase in the Design Thinking Process , it's crucial to set aside assumptions and gain first-hand insights to design with real users in mind. That's the essence of Design Thinking.

During the second stage of the Design Thinking process, the goal is to identify the user’s problem. To accomplish this, collect all your observations from the empathise phase and begin to connect the dots.

Ask yourself: What consistent patterns or themes did you notice? What recurring user needs or challenges were identified? After synthesising your findings, you must create a problem statement, also known as a Point Of View (POV) statement, which outlines the issue or challenge you aim to address. By the end of the define stage, you will be able to craft a clear problem statement that will guide you throughout the design process, forming the basis of your ideas and potential solutions.

After completing the first two stages of the Design Thinking process, which involve defining the target users and identifying the problem statement, it is now time to move on to the third stage - ideation. This stage is all about brainstorming and coming up with various ideas and solutions to solve the problem statement. Through ideation, the team can explore different perspectives and possibilities and select the best ideas to move forward with.

During the ideation phase, it is important to create an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas without fear of judgment. This phase is all about generating a large quantity of ideas, regardless of feasibility. This is done by encouraging the team to think outside the box and explore new angles. To maximise creativity, ideation sessions are often held in unconventional locations.

It’s time to transform the ideas from stage three into physical or digital prototypes. A prototype is a miniature model of a product or feature, which can be as simple as a paper model or as complex as an interactive digital representation.

During the Prototyping Stage , the primary objective is to transform your ideas into a tangible product that can be tested by actual users. This is crucial in maintaining a user-centric approach, as it enables you to obtain feedback before proceeding to develop the entire product. By doing so, you can ensure that the final design adequately addresses the user's problem and delivers an enjoyable user experience.

During the Design Thinking process, the fifth step involves testing your prototypes by exposing them to real users and evaluating their performance. Throughout this testing phase, you can observe how your target or prospective users engage with your prototype. Additionally, you can gather valuable feedback from your users about their experiences throughout the process.

Based on the feedback received during user testing, you can go back and make improvements to the design. It is important to remember that the Design Thinking process is iterative and non-linear. After the testing phase, it may be necessary to revisit the empathise stage or conduct additional ideation sessions before creating a successful prototype.

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Successful Design Thinking Case Studies  

Now that you have a foundational understanding of Design Thinking, let's explore how some of the world's most successful companies have leveraged this methodology to drive innovation and success:

Case Study 1: Airbnb  

Airbnb’s one of the popular Design Thinking Case Studies that you can aspire from. Airbnb disrupted the traditional hotel industry by applying Design Thinking principles to create a platform that connects travellers with unique accommodations worldwide. The founders of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk, started by identifying a problem: the cost and lack of personalisation in traditional lodging.

They conducted in-depth user research by staying in their own listings and collecting feedback from both hosts and guests. This empathetic approach allowed them to design a platform that not only met the needs of travellers but also empowered hosts to provide personalised experiences. 

Airbnb's intuitive website and mobile app interface, along with its robust review and rating system, instil trust and transparency, making users feel comfortable choosing from a vast array of properties. Furthermore, the "Experiences" feature reflects Airbnb's commitment to immersive travel, allowing users to book unique activities hosted by locals. 

Case Study 2.  Apple    

Apple Inc. has consistently been a pioneer in  Design Thinking, which is evident in its products, such as the iPhone. One of the best Design Thinking Examples from Apple is the development of the iPhone's User Interface (UI). The team at Apple identified the need for a more intuitive and user-friendly smartphone experience. They conducted extensive research and usability testing to understand user behaviours, pain points, and desires.   

The result? A revolutionary touch interface that forever changed the smartphone industry. Apple's relentless focus on the user experience, combined with iterative prototyping and user feedback, exemplifies the power of  Design Thinking in creating groundbreaking products.    

Apple invests heavily in user research to  anticipate what customers want before they even realise it themselves. This empathetic approach to design has led to groundbreaking innovations like the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, which have redefined the entire industry.  

Case Study 3. Netflix  

Netflix, the global streaming giant, has revolutionised the way people consume entertainment content. A major part of their success can be attributed to their effective use of Design Thinking principles.

What sets Netflix apart is its commitment to understanding its audience on a profound level. Netflix recognised that its success hinged on offering a personalised, enjoyable viewing experience. Through meticulous user research, data analysis, and a culture of innovation, Netflix constantly evolves its platform. Moreover, by gathering insights on viewing habits, content preferences, and even UI, the company tailors its recommendations, search algorithms, and original content to captivate viewers worldwide.

Furthermore, Netflix's iterative approach to Design Thinking allows it to adapt quickly to shifting market dynamics. This agility proved crucial when transitioning from a DVD rental service to a streaming platform. Netflix didn't just lead this revolution; it shaped it by keeping users' desires and behaviours front and centre. Netflix's commitment to Design Thinking has resulted in a highly user-centric platform that keeps subscribers engaged and satisfied, ultimately contributing to its global success.  

Case Study 4. Uber Eats     

Uber Eats, a subsidiary of Uber, has disrupted the food delivery industry by applying Design Thinking principles to enhance user experiences and create a seamless platform for food lovers and restaurants alike.  

One of  UberEats' key innovations lies in its user-centric approach. By conducting in-depth research and understanding the pain points of both consumers and restaurant partners, they crafted a solution that addresses real-world challenges. The user-friendly app offers a wide variety of cuisines, personalised recommendations, and real-time tracking, catering to the diverse preferences of customers.  

Moreover,  UberEats leverages technology and data-driven insights to optimise delivery routes and times, ensuring that hot and fresh food reaches customers promptly. The platform also empowers restaurant owners with tools to efficiently manage orders, track performance, and expand their customer base. 

Case Study  5 . IBM    

IBM is a prime example of a large corporation successfully adopting Design Thinking to drive innovation and transform its business. Historically known for its hardware and software innovations, IBM recognised the need to evolve its approach to remain competitive in the fast-paced technology landscape.   

IBM's Design Thinking journey began with a mission to reinvent its enterprise software solutions. The company transitioned from a product-centric focus to a user-centric one. Instead of solely relying on technical specifications, IBM started by empathising with its customers. They started to understand customer’s pain points, and envisioning solutions that genuinely addressed their needs. 

One of the key elements of IBM's Design Thinking success is its multidisciplinary teams. The company brought together designers, engineers, marketers, and end-users to collaborate throughout the product development cycle. This cross-functional approach encouraged diverse perspectives, fostering creativity and innovation. 

IBM's commitment to Design Thinking is evident in its flagship projects such as Watson, a cognitive computing system, and IBM Design Studios, where Design Thinking principles are deeply embedded into the company's culture. 

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Case Study 6. Oral-B’s electric toothbrush

Oral-B, a prominent brand under the Procter & Gamble umbrella, stands out as a remarkable example of how Design Thinking can be executed in a seemingly everyday product—Electric toothbrushes. By applying the Design Thinking approach, Oral-B has transformed the world of oral hygiene with its electric toothbrushes.  

Oral-B's journey with Design Thinking began by placing the user firmly at the centre of their Product Development process. Through extensive research and user feedback, the company gained invaluable insights into oral care habits, preferences, and pain points. This user-centric approach guided Oral-B in designing electric toothbrushes that not only cleaned teeth more effectively but also made the entire oral care routine more engaging and enjoyable.  

Another of Oral-B's crucial innovations is the integration of innovative technology into their toothbrushes. These devices now come equipped with features like real-time feedback, brushing timers, and even Bluetooth connectivity to sync with mobile apps. By embracing technology and user-centric design, Oral-B effectively transformed the act of brushing teeth into an interactive and informative experience. This has helped users maintain better oral hygiene.  

Oral-B's success story showcases how Design Thinking, combined with a deep understanding of user needs, can lead to significant advancements, ultimately improving both the product and user satisfaction.

Case Study 7. IDEO  

IDEO, a Global Design Consultancy, has been at the forefront of Design Thinking for decades. They have worked on diverse projects, from creating innovative medical devices to redesigning public services.

One of their most notable Design Thinking examples is the development of the "DeepDive" shopping cart for a major retailer. IDEO's team spent weeks observing shoppers, talking to store employees, and prototyping various cart designs. The result was a cart that not only improved the shopping experience but also increased sales. IDEO's human-centred approach, emphasis on empathy, and rapid prototyping techniques demonstrate how Design Thinking can drive innovation and solve real-world problems.   

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Case Study  8 .  Tesla  

Tesla, led by Elon Musk, has redefined the automotive industry by applying Design Thinking to Electric Vehicles (EVs). Musk and his team identified the need for EVs to be not just eco-friendly but also desirable. They focused on designing EVs that are stylish, high-performing, and technologically advanced. Tesla's iterative approach, rapid prototyping, and constant refinement have resulted in groundbreaking EVs like the Model S, Model 3, and Model X.    

From the minimalist interior of their Model S to the autopilot self-driving system, every aspect is meticulously crafted with the end user in mind. The company actively seeks feedback from its user community, often implementing software updates based on customer suggestions. This iterative approach ensures that Tesla vehicles continually evolve to meet and exceed customer expectations .   

Moreover, Tesla's bold vision extends to sustainable energy solutions, exemplified by products like the Powerwall and solar roof tiles. These innovations  showcase Tesla's holistic approach to Design Thinking, addressing not only the automotive industry's challenges but also contributing to a greener, more sustainable future.   

Case Study 9. GE Healthcare 

GE Healthcare is a prominent player in the Healthcare industry, renowned for its relentless commitment to innovation and design excellence. Leveraging Design Thinking principles, GE Healthcare has consistently pushed the boundaries of medical technology, making a significant impact on patient care worldwide.  

One of the key areas where GE Healthcare has excelled is in the development of cutting-edge medical devices and diagnostic solutions. Their dedication to user-centred design has resulted in devices that are not only highly functional but also incredibly intuitive for healthcare professionals to operate. For example, their advanced Medical Imaging equipment, such as MRI and CT scanners, are designed with a focus on patient comfort, safety, and accurate diagnostics. This device reflects the company's dedication to improving healthcare outcomes.  

Moreover, GE Healthcare's commitment to design extends beyond the physical product. They have also ventured into software solutions that facilitate data analysis and Patient Management. Their user-friendly software interfaces and data visualisation tools have empowered healthcare providers to make more informed decisions, enhancing overall patient care and treatment planning.

Case Study 10. Nike 

Nike is a global powerhouse in the athletic apparel and Footwear industry. Nike's journey began with a simple running shoe, but its design-thinking approach transformed it into an iconic brand.

Nike's Design Thinking journey started with a deep understanding of athletes' needs and desires. They engaged in extensive user research, often collaborating with top athletes to gain insights that inform their product innovations. This customer-centric approach allowed Nike to develop ground breaking technologies, such as Nike Air and Flyknit, setting new standards in comfort, performance, and style.

Beyond product innovation, Nike's brand identity itself is a testament to Design Thinking. The iconic Swoosh logo, created by Graphic Designer Carolyn Davidson, epitomises simplicity and timelessness, reflecting the brand's ethos.  

Nike also excels in creating immersive retail experiences, using Design Thinking to craft spaces that engage and inspire customers. Their flagship stores around the world are showcases of innovative design, enhancing the overall brand perception.

Lessons learned from Design Thinking Case Studies

The Design Thinking process, as exemplified by the success stories of IBM, Netflix, Apple, and Nike, offers valuable takeaways for businesses of all sizes and industries. Here are three key lessons to learn from these Case Studies:  

1)   Consider the b ig p icture   

Design Thinking encourages organisations to zoom out and view the big picture. It's not just about solving a specific problem but understanding how that problem fits into the broader context of user needs and market dynamics. By taking a holistic approach, you can identify opportunities for innovation that extend beyond immediate challenges. IBM's example, for instance, involved a comprehensive evaluation of their clients' journeys, leading to more impactful solutions.  

2)  Think t hrough a lternative s olutions   

One of the basic principles of Design Thinking is ideation, which emphasises generating a wide range of creative solutions. Netflix's success in content recommendation, for instance, came from exploring multiple strategies to enhance user experience. When brainstorming ideas and solutions, don't limit yourself to the obvious choices. Encourage diverse perspectives and consider unconventional approaches that may lead to breakthrough innovations.  

3)  Research e ach c ompany’s c ompetitors   

Lastly, researching competitors is essential for staying competitive. Analyse what other companies in your industry are doing, both inside and outside the realm of Design Thinking. Learn from their successes and failures. GE Healthcare, for example, leveraged Design Thinking to improve medical equipment usability, giving them a competitive edge. By researching competitors, you can gain insights that inform your own Design Thinking initiatives and help you stand out in the market.  

Incorporating these takeaways into your approach to Design Thinking can enhance your problem-solving capabilities, foster innovation, and ultimately lead to more successful results.  

Conclusion    

Design Thinking is not limited to a specific industry or problem domain; it is a versatile approach that promotes innovation and problem-solving in various contexts. In this blog, we've examined successful Design Thinking Case Studies from industry giants like IBM, Netflix, Apple, Airbnb, Uber Eats, and Nike. These companies have demonstrated that Design Thinking is a powerful methodology that can drive innovation, enhance user experiences, and lead to exceptional business success.   

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Frequently Asked Questions

Design Thinking Case Studies align with current market demands and user expectations by showcasing practical applications of user-centric problem-solving. These Studies highlight the success of empathetic approaches in meeting evolving customer needs.

By analysing various real-world examples, businesses can derive vital insights into dynamic market trends, creating innovative solutions, and enhancing user experiences. Design Thinking's emphasis on iterative prototyping and collaboration resonates with the contemporary demand for agility and adaptability.

Real-world examples of successful Design Thinking implementations can be found in various sources. For instance, you can explore several Case Study repositories on Design Thinking platforms like IDEO and Design Thinking Institute. Furthermore, you can also look for business publications, such as the Harvard Business Review as well as Fast Company, which often feature articles on successful Design Thinking applications.

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Health Care Providers Can Use Design Thinking to Improve Patient Experiences

• Sharon H. Kim,
• Christopher G. Myers,

Solving problems starts with understanding people’s needs.

Design thinking has taken hold in health care, leading to the development of new products and improved design of spaces. Yet it remains underused in addressing other important challenges, such as patient transportation, communication issues between clinicians and patients, and differential treatment of patients due to implicit bias, to name just a few. If more leaders embrace design thinking, they can leverage a deeper understanding of patients to solve such problems, achieving better clinical outcomes, improved patient experience, and lower costs along the way.

A hospital administrator recently talked to us about an issue that is all too common for patients: missed medical appointments. The story was about a woman named Mary (a pseudonym), a patient with a painful chronic condition who continually failed to keep her regular appointments. In an effort to better understand the problem at hand, the administrator tried to put herself in Mary’s shoes, and asked about her experience: Was there an issue with transportation? Did she need other appointment reminders aside from the paper letter mailed to her home and the standard phone call?

• Sharon H. Kim , Ph.D., is an assistant professor of management for the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and associate faculty at Armstrong Institute of Patient Safety and Quality. Her research explores creativity in the workplace, and she teaches design thinking for health care leaders.
• Christopher G. Myers is an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University on the faculty of the Carey Business School, School of Medicine, and Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety & Quality. His research explores interpersonal processes of learning, development, and innovation in health care and other knowledge-intensive work environments. Follow him  @ChrisGMyers .
• Lisa Allen , Ph.D., is the Chief Patient Experience Officer for Johns Hopkins Medicine. In this role she has oversight and responsibility for enhancing and continually improving the overall experience of patients and families by coaching, utilization of best practices, transparency, reporting, and system collaboration.

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COVID-19: The Ultimate Design Thinking Use Case

We are living in extraordinary times as COVID-19 continues to cause crises across the world. Could designers make use of design thinking to solve urgent problems and come up with innovative solutions?

By Miklos Philips

Miklos is a design leader, author, and speaker with more than 18 years of experience in the design field.

PREVIOUSLY AT

An emergency field hospital with tents customarily used for disaster relief has been opened in New York’s Central Park, and across the globe, “social distancing” has become part of our everyday behavior.

We are coming to grips with COVID-19, but it has caught us off guard. As most of the world’s population is under some form of lockdown, we find ourselves in the middle of an unprecedented social experiment with many people working remotely and entire families staying home.

A global pandemic of this scale was inevitable. For years, we have been warned of the possibility by hundreds of health experts, and in 2015, Bill Gates talked about how unprepared we are in his TED talk . He grimly warned: “If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war.” We are now faced with a challenge that has no parallel in peacetime this century.

While most people manage to “keep calm and carry on,” friction and frustration are inevitable living under such a crisis. But duress lays fertile ground for innovation, and during times such as these, eager designers and creatives can’t help but see opportunities for improvement.

If we approached COVID-19 as a design problem, could we find innovative ways to apply design thinking and human-centered design principles to help soothe everyday frustrations and mitigate the most pressing issues? Drawing parallels between the problems of the global pandemic and those of product and service design, the similarities are obvious.

At the intersection of the innovator’s mindset and creative thinking, we could explore ways to help the world deal with this and the next pandemic. Reaching into our designer’s toolkit, we could deploy the staples of our craft, including problem definition, ethnographic research, ideation, prototyping, and user testing. Taking advantage of recent innovations and the latest technology, we could run Design Sprints , focus on a specific problem, generate multiple solutions, build prototypes, and get rapid feedback.

The Design Thinking Process Applied to COVID-19

A global pandemic puts enormous stress on governments and healthcare services. Suddenly, there is a scramble to circulate the correct information and roll out products and services to deal with the crisis. These challenges bring together a blend of product design, experience design, and service design problems that are desperate for a solution, and design thinking can help.

Design thinking is a methodology that provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. It combines what’s desirable from a human point of view with what is technologically feasible and economically viable. It’s useful in tackling loosely defined, complex problems by understanding human needs.

Design thinking is unique compared with other forms of problem-solving methods in that it’s a non-linear process focused on delivering outcomes, rather than being focused on a precise problem definition. The design thinking process consists of five stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test . Each step needs to be given appropriate resources and the proper duration to create an end product that reliably meets user needs.

Information Clarity, Consistency, and Distribution

The flow of information is essential to curbing a pandemic. While the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading, it took authorities several weeks to consolidate their messaging and make it consistent. With advanced technology, the distribution of information isn’t the problem. It’s transmitting the right information to the right people at the right time.

In times of crisis, there is an acute need for standardized, consistent, and effective information design. Principle four from the Nielsen Norman Group’s 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design states: “Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing.”

To contain the outbreak, the UK government quickly moved to design clear, consistent messaging, taking advantage of the rule of three : “ Stay at home. Protect the NHS. Save lives. ” It was widely distributed via the internet and media. People received texts, got emails, and saw posters on the street, all of which has proved to be very effective.

Unfortunately, not all governments are created equal, and too little came too late from too many. Particularly when lives are at stake, clear and consistent instructions from healthcare services and authorities need to be out sooner rather than later.

In an ideal scenario, an emergency “design commission” with an army of volunteer designers and content strategists could spring into action to rapidly craft and test various designs. Taking the design thinking phases of empathize, define, and ideate , this rapid response team of designers could assist authorities with formulating the right kind of messaging.

During the final phase of design thinking: implementation , governments could text millions of people with new rules around social distancing with the help of mobile operators. Getting information out rapidly over a variety of channels would ensure people receive the right kind of information promptly.

The primary goal of content strategists and information designers working with healthcare services is not only to convey vital information but to reduce people’s “cognitive load.” Borrowed from cognitive psychology, it is a frequently used term in UX and describes the process where, unable to process an overload of critical information, the brain shuts down.

Information designers can observe the Laws of UX and apply two of its “golden rules” to reduce cognitive load: Hick’s Law and Miller’s Law. Hick’s Law states that “the time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices,” so minimalist, uncomplicated designs are best when people need to make a decision. For example, it could be applied to an infographic outlining whether to use facial masks or not.

In an extreme scenario, both of these laws could be violated simultaneously by confusing pictograms meant to convey vital information, i.e., presenting too many choices and asking people to remember too many things.

The third UX principle that could be adopted for powerful information design is the Von Restorff Effect , which can help people recall information more easily. It states that “items that stand out from their peers are more memorable.” Designers can use the Von Restorff Effect to design effective, memorable information that needs to be conveyed quickly and convincingly.

The Psychology of Panic Buying

Experts say hoarding essential supplies despite reassurances from experts that shortages of everyday household goods are unlikely is motivated by a natural human reaction to stress and uncertainty.

When crises occur, people quite naturally want to regain control. We tend to run with the herd, thinking: “If everyone else is buying toilet paper, hand sanitizers, and pasta, I should probably do the same.”

How can stores prevent or at least get ahead of this kind of behavior? Reflecting on the principles of UX design, it’s about “knowing your user.” Becoming keenly aware of previous events, patterns, and behaviors that lead to the raiding of aisles in supermarkets and pharmacies could mitigate the problem.

Aligning the panic-shopping phenomenon with the user interface heuristic “visibility of system status,” clear signage throughout the shopping experience could curtail the rush to stock up on essentials. Governments could raise awareness through the media and send uniform signage to grocery stores to calm nerves and inform shoppers that there is plenty to go around.

If there is a principle that is sacred to UX designers, it's know your user. After all, how can we design something for people without in-depth, detailed knowledge of them? Don Norman , co-founder and Principal Emeritus of Nielsen Norman Group

Product and Service Design in the Age of COVID-19

Effective solutions are desperately needed to a myriad of problems foisted on the world by COVID-19. As a result, the pandemic is powering innovation on an atypical scale and pace not normally considered. Apart from PPEs (personal protective equipment), hospital beds, and face shields, ventilators are in short supply, which has sparked an astounding number of design breakthroughs. And that’s just one area where necessity has proved itself to be the mother of invention.

Innovation is now recognized as the single most important ingredient in any modern economy. Tom Kelley, IDEO Partner

Self-diagnosis at home, monitoring those who are infected, widespread testing, and contact tracing are just a few design problems that need solving. Dealing with emergent mental health issues, panic buying, and social distancing caused by lockdowns is another. Endless design problems with unique challenges present themselves during global crises, and exciting design opportunities abound.

Fusing advanced technology with design thinking, designers have an opportunity to bring forth many innovative products and services.

Design Thinking in Healthcare: Test, Trace, and Treat

In the battle to contain the contagion, employing the test, trace, and treat approach is unavoidable. Widespread testing and contact tracing are needed to identify and alert people who have come into contact with a person infected with the coronavirus.

Putting into practice the user-centered design process, designers could brainstorm new ideas with the “ how might we ” method. It would require us to accept that we don’t currently know the answer and foster a collaborative approach to solving it. IDEO calls it “ challenge mapping ,” which is very similar to the 5 Whys method for problem-solving (developed at Toyota in the 1930s).

For example, currently, home test kits are not reliable for testing for novel coronavirus infection. But the steps in the design thinking process could be applied to make them ready for the next one.

Under empathizing and defining , we can understand the problem; with ideation and prototyping, we can explore the most cost-effective way to make them; and with testing and implementation , we can refine and deliver an effective solution. In this way, millions of home test kits could be designed, prototyped, and tested .

Mobile apps and big data are ideal partners for contact tracing. When people develop symptoms, how can they know if it’s COVID-19? An AI-powered COVID-19 symptom checker app could “listen” to coughs and breathing, as well as measure body temperature and heart rate via an external wristband. Comparing results with large sets of previous data, it would come up with a diagnosis. Once the symptoms are confirmed, the app can then advise users on an appropriate course of action.

Looking at social distancing, apps could be designed that alert people if they’re getting too close to someone. It could be wearable tech, such as a chest camera, that would send an audible alert to their mobile device (or their earphones).

COVID-19 and Mental Health – Living in Isolation

As authorities race to stem the spread of the coronavirus by shuttering everything we take for granted, some experts fear the consequences on people’s mental health, and the longer a quarantine continues, the greater the effect.

Experts say that depression, anxiety, and suicides typically emerge from traumatic events, such as widespread lockdowns and the uncertainty of the pandemic. The impact is worse for those with existing mental health conditions, the elderly, the vulnerable, and the self-isolating.

Eight to 10 days after they were quarantined due to the spread of COVID-19, more than half the participants in a recent study reported the adverse psychological effects of the outbreak as “moderate or severe.” Can design thinking address people’s protracted isolation and look for ways to alleviate mental stress?

We can take steps from the design thinking process and approach problems from the user’s perspective: empathize with sufferers and ideate solutions. Healthcare services could support the availability of high-quality, remote counseling by therapists, psychiatric nurses, and doctors. However, the ease of use (usability) of these digital services is crucial, as well as the simplicity of making an appointment.

For many people, talking to friends and family over video calls helps. However, according to Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group, the elderly are typically not tech-savvy users and “need dramatically simplified software” that works with a push of a button. For them, making a video call needs to be almost as simple as using a lightswitch.

To help detect depression, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have recently developed an AI system that can detect if a person is suffering from depression by analyzing their speech patterns. Such an AI system can power a mobile app that monitors a person’s speaking patterns, detects mental distress, and sends an alert to doctors. It could prove especially useful for those who can’t get to a doctor for an initial diagnosis due to distance, cost, or a lack of awareness that something may be wrong.

Designing Better Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

When stepping out of home isolation, protection is on everyone’s mind. During lockdowns, people still need to get essential supplies, pick up medication, and get some exercise.

As designers approach the new norms and apply design thinking to personal protection, a window of opportunity opens up for design innovation. We can empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test, and implement . For example, designers could envision washable gloves made of comfortable material that offer sufficient protection and would become part of our daily protective wear.

For those with a smartwatch, using haptic vibration , apps could sound an alert as the wearer is about to touch their face. Fashionable face masks that are easy to manage yet block airborne viruses could be designed.

The lack of personal protective equipment for medical professionals is prompting design innovation at an unprecedented scale. In any healthcare system, there are not only the patients to consider but their families, the doctors, nurses, and other support personnel. A holistic system including all its components needs to be considered in order to see where design can help.

It’s putting the person, the human at the centre of what you do. Because no matter what industry or sector you’re in, there’s a human in there somewhere, so just anticipate and consider their needs. Kathryn Townsend, Head of Customer & Client Accessibility, Barclays UK

During the ideation phase in design thinking, it’s unlikely the ultimate solution to the problem will be discovered. The point is to come up with as many ideas as possible, sort through them to find the best ones (which will likely be some combination of user needs, practicality, cost-effectiveness, and other factors specific to the project), and then figure out which ideas should move on to the next step: prototyping .

Challenging assumptions is key to defining what is or isn’t a viable solution that can lead to innovative ideas. The idea is to try everything, even if some turn out to be duds.

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. Thomas Edison

As intensive care units are overwhelmed, there is an acute shortage of ventilators. Some ventilator manufacturers are forming partnerships with various firms and working around the clock to make them as fast as possible. Hope is also riding on smaller design labs that could make ventilators more quickly.

With ideation and prototyping , a team led by University of Oxford professors along with a student and professors from King’s College of London have defined a simple, safe, and scalable ventilator design that meets the strict specifications for use with patients. The design exploits off-the-shelf components and equipment with parts that can be produced using 3D printing, cutting costs dramatically.

“In less than two weeks, the students, researchers, and academics driving this project have developed into a highly structured and efficient team, brainstormed a prototype, and won government backing,” professor Mark Thompson of Oxford said.

Contactless Everything Is King

Naturally, people fear contact with anything when a tap on a screen or keypad can cause a fatal infection. Touch-based UIs are not favored, and paying with cash isn’t permitted in many grocery stores. Out are ATMs, supermarket keypads, and vending machines; in are contactless transportation passes and payment terminals where people can use contactless cards, ApplePay, and Google Pay.

And then there is radar tech like Google’s Project Soli for contactless interactions.

Project Soli is developing a new interaction sensor using radar technology. The sensor tracks sub-millimeter motions at high speed and accuracy. It fits onto a chip, can be produced at scale, and built into small devices and everyday objects. Soli is a miniature radar that understands human motions at various scales: from the tap of a finger to body movements.

Contactless payment terminals are already here, but soon, using radar-powered motion sensors, contactless UIs should be possible for everything from ATMs to vending machines. Interacting may be slower with these UIs, but “contactless-modes” will be safer to use. When there is no longer a need, systems can switch back to touch-based interactions.

Shopping for essentials in contactless stores would be a boon during global pandemics. Computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning systems can enable checkout-free shopping experiences. Are checkout-free stores like Amazon Go Grocery ahead of their time?

Data Visualization and Analysis

Putting cities under lockdown is not enough. Testing, contact tracing, home isolation, and rapid treatment are vital —all of which generate a lot of unstructured data. A sea of data coming in is good, but data alone doesn’t speak and doesn’t help make informed decisions. It’s tantamount to drinking from a firehose.

Policymakers and hospital leaders need to make informed decisions based on facts backed by data. For systems to function well, we not only need data but more importantly, robust data analysis and data visualization tools. Again, “ visibility of system status ” takes on vital importance. Patterns need to be identified, the spread of the virus visualized, and disease conditions monitored 24/7.

To facilitate better decision-making, researchers and startups are using artificial intelligence and other technologies to predict where the virus might appear next and how fast it will spread. These AI tools may use advanced technology and algorithms, but many of them suffer from poor usability. They need to be well-designed, present data efficiently, and communicate complexity with clarity through sophisticated data visualization.

UX designers have an opportunity to step in and make improvements. Once again, they can turn to the design thinking process: define the problem, ideate solutions, prototype, test , and implement the next generation of data visualization tools.

Closing Thoughts

The rapid spread of the coronavirus and the disorganized and erratic response of many governments demonstrates how unprepared we are in dealing with a global pandemic. No one looked at the COVID-19 outbreak as a design problem, but the crisis offers a chance to question the wisdom of old habits and to explore out-of-the-box thinking. Applying the design thinking process, designers and design thinkers can play a vital role in diagnosing the most pressing issues and come up with solutions.

Tumult and upheaval have altered history with wars, plagues, and chaos, sometimes leading to positive growth. We can look for a silver lining in the current calamity: COVID-19 is forcing the world to rethink its outmoded routines and power a remarkable pace of design innovation. Many design breakthroughs of the current crisis will be short-lived, but many will have staying power because they solve big problems. It’s up to designers to get to work.

Let us know what you think! Please leave your thoughts, comments, and feedback below.

Further Reading on the Toptal Blog:

• How to Work Remotely When It Matters Most
• Exploring the Reasons for Design Thinking Criticism
• The Value of Design Thinking in Business
• Breaking Down the Design Thinking Process

Understanding the basics

How do you describe service design.

Service design is the action of determining what elements of a service will provide the optimal experience for its users by examining the service’s communication, infrastructure, and material components as well as the users’ interactions with it.

Why is service design important?

Service design provides design tools and a structure that help companies get to know their customers, their needs and desires, and to provide them with a superior experience. It drives profits and offers companies ways to reduce cost as well as achieve a competitive advantage.

What are the benefits of service design?

Effective service design creates an optimal experience for users. It considers all stakeholders, fosters collaboration, creates consistency, offers cost reduction, and helps to keep companies agile by embracing change. Design thinking in service design can help.

What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation?

Misinformation is false information that’s given without malice, and disinformation is false information, such as government propaganda, that’s given with the intention to deceive.

What is design thinking not?

Design thinking is not about lightly updating existing designs and generating “alternative” solutions. A simplified approach to design thinking impedes real innovation. Many designers dislike the notion of design thinking because, to them, it tends to reduce the design process into an easy-to-follow formula.

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Member since May 20, 2016

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GE Healthcare > Adenture Series: Changing Experiences through Empathy – The Adventure Series

We differentiate between three editorial levels of stories:

1) Design thinking classics: Case studies that are well-documented and widely known, which we include in our collection for the sake of completeness. If not stated otherwise there are compiled by our editors via desk research.

2) Normal cases: Stories, which are less known and got collected and rewritten by our editors via desk research.

3) Stories with validated data: These cases are based on first-hand empirical information that our editors received during their research.

Design thinking has often-times been described as an empathic approach. Leonards and Rayports classic "Empathic Design" is a close relative of this thought: How might we find out what people themselves do not know? At GE Healthcare empathy was needed to understand how children experience CT, X-Ray and MRI scanning procedures.

Diagnostic imaging procedures are cutting-edge technology, but at the same time they are an unpleasant experience for patients – and even more for pediatric patients. Doug Dietz is an industrial designer, working for GE healthcare since more than 20 years. He remembered the first time when he saw a little girl who was crying on her way to a scanner that was designed by him. Doug suddenly saw the situation with the eyes of the girl. “The room itself is kind of dark and has those flickering fluorescent lights” , he remembers in his TED talk . He adds “that machine that I had designed basically looked like a brick with a hole in it.”

A new challenge was born. How could one create a scanner experience that children would love?

Approach / Insight

In their book on Creative Confidence the brothers Tom and David Kelley recall how Doug Dietz tried to find new inspiration for this project by trying out design thinking. He went to Stanford’s d.school for a workshop.

“The workshop offered Doug new tools that ignited his creative confidence: He learned about a human-centered approach to design and innovation. […] Going through the human-centered design process with people in diverse industries and roles—from management to human resources to finance—struck a chord in him. “ I started to imagine how powerful this tool could be if I brought it back and got cross-functional teams to work together. ”

[…] He started by observing and gaining empathy for young children at a day care center. He talked to child life specialists to understand what pediatric patients went through. He reached out for help from people around him, including a small volunteer team from GE, experts from a local children’s museum, and doctors and staff from two hospitals. Next, he created the first prototype of what would become the “Adventure Series” scanner and was able to get it installed as a pilot program in the children’s hospital at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.”

(Cited from )

Implementation

This is what Doug Dietz invented after his user research:

GE-Adventure Series – The Pirate Room

“In the Pirate Adventure, a visual transformation of the equipment that was available before, patients are on a dock. There is a shipwreck and some sand castles in the corner. Children then work on the plank to be scanned.  The Coral City Adventure in the emergency room gives children an underwater experience. It has a disco ball that makes light like bubbles around the room; children get into a yellow submarine and listen to the sound of harps whilst the procedure takes place.  The Cozy Camp gives children the chance to be scanned in a specialized sleeping bag, under a starry sky in an impressive camp setting.”

( Cited from the Newsroom of GE Healthcare )

Some positive impacts derive from Doug Dietz’ Adventure Series. First of all, the patient satisfaction scores went up 90 percent. Children do not suffer of anxiety anymore. Instead some of them even ask their parents if they can come back tomorrow. It makes it easier for children to hold still during the procedure what in turn prevents the doctors from having to repeat the scan. This less need for anaesthesiologists meant more patients could get scanned each day, which heavily impacts the financial side of the equation.

The experience of joy and play during the scan also took away the fear from parents. As Doug Dietz puts it: “ If you got the child you got the parent, and if you got the parent, you got the child. ” He now trains other GE employees to use design thinking and innovation methods in their teams.

Check out this video for "GE Healthcare > Adenture Series"

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Image Sources

• GE-Adventure Series – The Pirate Room: GE Healthcare | © Traditional Copyright
• GE’s MRI Adventure Series: Courtesy of General Electric | © Traditional Copyright

The Authors

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18 Comments

March 23, 2021

Hey, Well Information about healthcare and other adventure through series. And your adventure healthcare series is very good and different ways. Thank you

August 1, 2022

Thanks, it helped me get a good grasp of design thinking

June 21, 2021

Thanks for providing information on design thinking. design thinking

July 31, 2021

Thank you, for the adventure series. Takeoffprojects

April 7, 2022

Really Amazing Healthcare story Appreciate for it Thanks.

Really Amazing Healthcare story I am Appreciate it Thank You for Amazing Content.

May 13, 2022

Nice post, thank you for sharing this interesting information. Helpful for me.

June 11, 2022

Thanks for providing information on design thinking.

September 23, 2022

Incredible Story of a New Health Care System I appreciate your help.

November 10, 2022

Thanks for the usefull Comment

November 7, 2022

Thanks for providing information on design thinking. We are really appreciated about your Work And Blog

December 9, 2022

Excellent information and Good design Thank you

December 14, 2022

Thank you, for the adventure series.

Thank you, for the adventure series. I found it helpful.

August 8, 2023

Hey, Well Information about healthcare and other adventure through series. And your adventure healthcare series is very good and different ways.

October 16, 2023

Thanks for this case study on Adventure Series. I can imagine what a relief it must be for parents to watch their children being comfortable while getting scanned. Sometimes we do not dare to do the unthinkable as we move on set paths, but Mr. Doug Dietz took the unconventional approach & he is an inspiration for people like me. This is amazing!

October 25, 2023

Well done Doug Dietz and team. You have inspired me to use my ability to design and think to help others in need.

So, what do you think ...? Cancel reply

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The journey from design thinking to creative confidence.

A Story About Human-Centered Design  

Doug Dietz is an earnest, soft-spoken Midwesterner with a wry, endearing smile and eyes that are quick to well up with tears at an emotional moment.

A twenty-four-year veteran of General Electric, Doug helps lead the design and development of high-tech medical imaging systems for GE Healthcare, an $18 billion division of one of the largest companies in the world. His multimillion-dollar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems peer painlessly inside the human body in ways that would have been considered magic just a generation ago.

A few years back, Doug wrapped up a project on an MRI machine that he had spent two and a half years working on. When he got the opportunity to see it installed in a hospital’s scanning suite, he jumped at the chance. Standing next to his new machine Doug talked with the technician who was operating it that day. He told her that the MRI scanner had been submitted for an International Design Excellence Award—the “Oscars of design”—and asked her how she liked its new features. “It was a perfect example of bad interviewing technique,” Doug says abashedly. 

Doug was prepared to come away patting himself on the back for a job well done. But then the technician asked him to step out into the hall for a moment because a patient needed to get a scan. When he did, he saw a frail young girl walking toward him, tightly holding her parents’ hands. The parents looked worried, and their young daughter was clearly scared, all in anticipation of what lay ahead—Doug’s MRI machine. The girl started to sniffle, and Doug himself got choked up telling us her story. As the family passed by, Doug could hear their hushed conversation: “We’ve talked about this. You can be brave,” urged the dad, the strain showing in his own voice.

As Doug watched, the little girl’s tears rolled down her cheeks. To Doug’s alarm, the technician picked up the phone to call for an anesthesiologist. And that was when Doug learned that hospitals routinely sedate pediatric patients for their scans because they are so scared that they can’t lie still long enough. As many as 80 percent of pediatric patients have to be sedated. And if an anesthesiologist isn’t available, the scan has to be postponed, causing families to go through their cycle of worry all over again.

From Observation to Empathy

When Doug witnessed the anxiety and fear his machine caused among the most vulnerable patients, the experience triggered a personal crisis for him that forever changed his perspective. Rather than an elegant, sleek piece of technology, worthy of accolades and admiration, he now saw that—through the eyes of a young child—the MRI looked more like a big scary machine you have to go inside. Pride in his design was replaced with feelings of failure for letting down the very patients he was trying to help. Doug could have quit his job, or simply resigned himself to the situation and moved on. But he didn’t. He returned home and told his wife that he had to make a change.

Want to learn and apply the creative-problem solving skills of design thinking? Gain a practical understanding of the design thinking approach through our Foundations In Design Thinking Certificate.

The Journey Toward Change

Part I: The Search

So Doug sought advice on this deep personal and professional challenge from friends and colleagues. His boss at GE, who had encountered Stanford’s d.school while at Procter & Gamble, suggested he try out an executive education class. Searching for a fresh perspective and a different approach to his work, Doug flew to California for a weeklong workshop. He didn’t know quite what to expect, but he was eager to embrace any new methodology that would help him in his quest to make MRIs less frightening for young children.

Part II: The Workshop

The workshop offered Doug new tools that ignited his creative confidence: He learned about a human-centered approach to design and innovation. He observed and talked to users of existing products and services to better understand consumer needs. He collaborated with managers from other companies and industries on crude prototypes of designs to meet those needs. Gaining new perspectives from them, he continued to experiment and iterate his concepts in class, building on the ideas of others. At the end of the week, the cross-pollination of ideas made him feel more creative and more hopeful than he had when he left home. Going through the human-centered design process with people in diverse industries and roles—from management to human resources to finance—struck a chord in him. “I started to imagine how powerful this tool could be if I brought it back and got cross functional teams to work together.”

By applying human-centered design methods in his own work, Doug believed he could come up with a better solution for children—and he was determined to make it happen. He returned to Milwaukee knowing what he wanted to do. Without significant resources, funding, or support from his own company, Doug knew he couldn’t launch a big R&D project to redesign an MRI machine from scratch. So he focused on redesigning the experience.

Part III: The Application

He started by observing and gaining empathy for young children at a daycare center. He talked to child life specialists to understand what pediatric patients went through. He reached out for help from people around him, including a small volunteer team from GE, experts from a local children’s museum, and doctors and staff from two hospitals. Next, he created the first prototype of what would become the “Adventure Series” scanner and was able to get it installed as a pilot program in the children’s hospital at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

"A creative mindset can be a powerful force for looking beyond the status quo." 

By thinking holistically about how children experienced and interacted with the technology, Doug helped transform the MRI suite into a kid’s adventure story, with the patient in a starring role. Making no changes to the complex technology inside the scanner, Doug and his ad hoc team applied colorful decals to the outside of the machine and to every surface in the room, covering the floor, ceilings, walls, and all of the equipment. They also created a script for machine operators so they could lead their young patients through the adventure.

Part IV: The Treasure

One of the prototypes is a pirate ship worthy of an amusement park ride. The ship comes complete with a big wooden captain’s wheel that surrounds the round opening of the chamber—a seafaring detail that also makes the small circumference seem less claustrophobic. The operator tells kids that they will be sailing inside the pirate ship and they have to stay completely still while on the boat. After their “voyage,” they get to pick a small treasure from the pirate’s chest on the other side of the room. In another story, the MRI is a cylindrical spaceship transporting the patient into a space adventure. Just before the whirring and banging of the machine gets louder, the operator encourages young patients to listen closely for the moment that the craft “shifts into hyperdrive.” This reframing transforms a normally terrifying “BOOMBOOM-BOOM” sound into just another part of the adventure. Including the pirate experience and the rocket ship, there are now nine different “adventures.”

Part V: The Outcome

With Doug’s new MRI redesign for kids, the number of pediatric patients needing to be sedated was reduced dramatically. The hospital and GE were happy too because less need for anesthesiologists meant more patients could get scanned each day. Meanwhile, patient satisfaction scores went up 90 percent. An MRI transformed into a pirate adventure for pediatric patients.

But the biggest satisfaction for Doug lies not in the numbers, nor in GE Healthcare’s improved bottom line (although these were important for gaining internal support). His greatest reward came while talking with a mother whose six-year-old daughter had just been scanned in the MRI “pirate ship.” The little girl came over and tugged on her mother’s skirt. “Mommy,” she asked, “can we come back tomorrow?” That simple question made all his effort worthwhile.

"Creative confidence is an inherently optimistic way of looking at what’s possible."

Less than a year after his epiphany, Doug’s increased creative confidence catapulted him into a new role as a thought leader at GE. Would it be an exaggeration to say that, in the process, Doug also helped change the world a bit? Ask one of those young patients or their parents. They already have the answer.

A creative mindset can be a powerful force for looking beyond the status quo. Using the methods and mindsets of design thinking —like collaboration , empathy, curiosity, and ideation —helps us believe in our ability to create a better version of the future, whether at work or in our personal lives. Without that belief, Doug wouldn’t have been able to take the first step toward his goal. Creative confidence is an inherently optimistic way of looking at what’s possible.

Doug’s story illustrates how human-centered design can lead to breakthrough innovations and help us better serve the people we are creating for. New opportunities for innovation open up when you start the creative problem-solving process with empathy toward your target audience—whether it’s kids or colleagues, clients or consumers. While competitors focused on the never-ending battle surrounding technical specifications (like scanning speed, resolution, etc...), Doug found a whole new way to improve the lives of patients and their families. In our experience, approaching challenges from a human perspective can yield some of the richest and most rewarding opportunities for change.

Want to learn and start using the creative-problem solving skills of design thinking? Gain a practical understanding of the design thinking approach through our Foundations in Design Thinking Certificate .

Check out our Design Thinking Overview page and Design Thinking Resources page as well. 

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21 UX case studies to learn from in 2024

UX case studies are the heart of your design portfolio. They offer a peek into your design process, showcasing how you tackle challenges, your methods, and your results. For recruiters, these case studies serve as a metric for evaluating your skills, problem-solving abilities, and talent.

If you’re considering creating your own UX case study in 2024 but don’t know where to start, you’re in the right place. This article aims to inspire you with 21 carefully hand-picked UX case study examples, each offering valuable lessons.

But before we dive into these examples, let’s address a question that might be lingering: Is a UX case study truly worth the effort?

Is it worth creating a UX case study?

The short answer is yes.

Remember how in math class, showing your workings was even more important than getting the correct answer? UX case studies are like that for designers. They are more than just showcasing the final product (the polished website or app); they detail the steps taken to get there (the research, user testing, and design iterations). By showing your design process, you give potential employers or clients a peek into your thought process and problem-solving skills.

A well-laid-out case study has many benefits, including the following:

Building credibility

As case studies provide evidence of your expertise and past successes, they can build credibility and trust with potential employers or clients.

Educational value

By showing your design process, you provide valuable insights and learnings for other designers and stakeholders.

Differentiation

A compelling case study can leave a lasting impression on potential recruiters and clients, helping you stand out.

Iterative improvement

A case study is like a roadmap of each project, detailing the highs, lows, failures, and successes. This information allows you to identify areas for improvement, learn from mistakes, and refine your approach in subsequent projects.

Now that you know why a stand-out case study is so important, let’s look at 21 examples to help you get creative. The case studies will fall under five categories:

• Language learning app
• Learning app
• Travel agency app
• Intelly healthcare app
• Cox Automotive
• Swiftwash laundry
• Wayfaro trip planner
• New York Times app redesign
• Disney+ app redesign
• Fitbit redesign
• Ryanair app redesign
• Forbes app redesign
• Enhancing virtual teaching with Google Meet
• Airbnb’s global check-in tool
• Spotify home shortcuts
• AI-powered spatial banking for Apple Vision Pro
• Sage Express

In this section, we’ll explore case studies that take us through the complete design journey of creating a digital product from scratch.

1. Language learning app

If you’re a designer looking to get your foot in the door, this is one case study you need to check out. It’s so well detailed that it helped this designer land their first role as a UX designer:

Created by Christina Sa, this case study tackles the all-too-common struggle of learning a new language through a mobile app. It takes us through the process of designing a nontraditional learning app that focuses on building a habit by teaching the Korean language using Korean media such as K-pop, K-drama, and K-webtoon.

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Key takeaway

This case study shows how a structured design process, user-centered approach, and effective communication can help you stand out. The creator meticulously laid out their design process from the exploratory research phase to the final prototype, even detailing how the case study changed their view on the importance of a design process.

If you’re searching for a comprehensive case study that details every step of the design process, look no further. This one is for you:

This impressive case study by Finna Wang explores the creation of a fan-focused responsive platform for Jambb, an already existing social platform. The creator starts by identifying the problem and then defines the project scope before diving into the design process.

This case study shows us the importance of an iterative problem-solving approach. It identifies a problem (pre-problem statement), creates a solution, tests the solution, and then revises the problem statement based on the new findings.

3. Learning app

If you need a highly visual case study that takes you through every step of the design process in an engaging way, this one is for you:

This case study walks us through the design of a platform where users can find experts to explain complex topics to them in a simple and friendly manner. It starts by defining the scope of work, then progresses through research, user journeys, information architecture, user flow, initial design, and user testing, before presenting the final solution.

This case study demonstrates effective ways to keep readers engaged while taking them through the steps of a design process. By incorporating illustrations and data visualization, the designer communicates complex information in an engaging manner, without boring the readers.

If you’re in search of a case study that details the design process but is also visually appealing, you should give this one a look:

This case study by Orbix Studio takes us through the process of designing GiveHub, a fundraising app that helps users set up campaigns for causes they’re passionate about. It starts with an overview of the design process, then moves on to identifying the challenges and proposing solutions, before showing us how the solutions are brought to life.

This case study illustrates how a visually engaging design and clear organization can make your presentation easy to grasp.

5. Travel agency app

This case study is quite popular on Behance, and it’s easy to see why:

The case study takes us through the process of creating a travel app that lets users compare travel packages from various travel agencies or groups. The creators set out a clear problem statement, propose a solution, and then show us the step-by-step implementation process. The incorporation of data visualization tools makes this case study easy to digest.

This is another case study that shows the importance of using a clearly defined design process. Going by its popularity on Behance, you can tell that the step-by-step process breakdown was well worth the effort.

6. Intelly healthcare app

If you’re looking for a UX case study that explores the design journey for both mobile and desktop versions of an app, this is one you should check out:

This case study explores the process of creating Intelly, an app that transforms patient care with telemedicine, prescription management, and real-time tracking. The case study begins with a clear design goal, followed by a layout of existing problems and design opportunities. The final design is a mobile app for patients and a desktop app for doctors.

This case study highlights the importance of proactive problem-solving and creative thinking in the design process. The creators laid out some key problems, identified design opportunities in them, and effectively leveraged them to create an app.

7. Cox Automotive

If you prefer a results-oriented case study, you’ll love this one:

This case study delves into how Cox Automotive’s Manheim division, used LogRocket to optimize their customers’ digital experience for remote car auctions. It starts by highlighting the three key outcomes before giving us an executive summary of the case study. The rest of the case study takes us through the process of achieving the highlighted outcomes.

A key takeaway from this case study is the significance of using user data and feedback to enhance the digital experience continuously. Cox Automotive used LogRocket to identify and address user-reported issues, gain insights into customer behaviors, and make data-driven decisions to optimize their product.

These case studies are more focused on the visual aspects of the design process, teaching us a thing or two about presentation and delivery.

If you love a case study that scores high on aesthetics with vivid colors, cool illustrations, and fun animations, you need to check this one out:

This case study takes us on a visual journey of creating Rebank, a digital product aimed at revolutionizing the baking industry. It starts with the research process, moves on to branding and style, and then takes us through the different screens, explaining what each one offers.

This case study illustrates the value of thinking outside the box. Breaking away from the conventional design style of financial products makes it a stand-out case study.

9. Swiftwash Laundry

If you’re looking for a case study that prioritizes aesthetics and visual appeal, you should check this one out:

This case study by Orbix Studio gives us a peek into how they created Swiftwash, a laundry service app. It takes us through the steps involved in creating an intuitive, user-friendly, and visually appealing interface.

If there’s one thing to take away from this case study, it’s the value of presenting information in a straightforward manner. Besides being easy on the eye, this case study is also easy to digest. The creators lay out the problem and detail the steps taken to achieve a solution, in an easy-to-follow way, while maintaining a high visual appeal.

10. Wayfaro trip planner

If you’re looking for a concise case study with clean visuals, you should definitely check this one out:

This Behance case study takes us through the design of Wayfaro, a trip planner app that allows users to plan their itineraries for upcoming journeys. The creators dive straight into the visual design process, showing us aspects such as branding and user flow, and explaining the various features on each screen.

This case study shows us the power of an attractive presentation. Not only is the mobile app design visually appealing, but the design process is presented in a sleek and stylish manner.

App redesign

These case studies delve into the redesign of existing apps, offering valuable insights into presentation techniques and problem-solving approaches.

11. New York Times app redesign

If you’re looking for an app redesign case study that’s impactful yet concise, this one is for you:

This study details the creation of “Timely,” a design feature to address issues with the NYT app such as irrelevant content, low usage, and undesirable coverage. It takes us through the process of identifying the problem, understanding audience needs, creating wireframes, and prototyping.

This case study shows us that you don’t always need to overhaul the existing app when redesigning. It suggests a solution that fits into the current information setup, adding custom graphics to the mobile app. Starting with a simple problem statement, it proposes a solution to address the app’s issues without changing what customers already enjoy.

12. Disney+ app redesign

If you’re looking for an engaging case study that’s light on information, you should check out this one:

This case study by Andre Carioca dives right into giving the user interface a little facelift to make it more fun and engaging. By employing compelling storytelling and appealing visuals, the creator crafts a narrative that’s a delight to read.

Given how popular this case study is on Behance, you can tell that the designer did something right. It shows how injecting a little playfulness can elevate your case study and make it more delightful.

13. Fitbit redesign

If you want an in-depth case study that doesn’t bore you to sleep, this one is for you:

This case study by Stacey Wang takes us through the process of redesigning Fitbit, a wearable fitness tracker. The creator starts by understanding personas and what users expect from a fitness tracker.

Next was the development of use cases and personas. Through a series of guerrilla tests, they were able to identify user pain points. The redesign was centered around addressing these pain points.

This case study highlights the importance of clear organization and strong visual communication. The creator goes in-depth into the intricacies of redesigning the Fitbit app, highlighting every step, without boring the readers.

14. Ryanair app redesign

If you’re bored of the usual static case studies and need something more interactive, this app redesign is what you’re looking for:

This case study takes us through the process of giving the Ryanair app a fresh look. Besides the clean aesthetics and straightforward presentation, the incorporation of playful language and interactive elements makes this case study captivating.

This case study shows how adding a bit of interactivity to your presentation can elevate your work.

15. Forbes app redesign

This case study starts by explaining why the redesign was needed and dives deep into analyzing the current app. The creator then takes us through the research and ideation phases and shares their proposed solution. After testing the solution, they made iterations based on the results.

When it comes to redesigning an existing product, it’s a good idea to make a strong case for why the redesign was needed in the first place.

UX research

These case studies are centered around UX research, highlighting key research insights to enhance your design process.

16. Enhancing virtual teaching with Google Meet

This case study by Amanda Rosenburg, Head of User Experience Research, Google Classroom shows us how listening to user feedback can help make our products more useful and inclusive to users.

To improve the virtual teaching experience on Google Meet, the team spent a lot of time getting feedback from teachers. They then incorporated this feedback into the product design, resulting in new functionality like attendance taking, hand raising, waiting rooms, and polls. Not only did these new features improve the user experience for teachers and students, but they also created a better user experience for all Google Meet users.

When there isn’t room for extensive user research and you need to make quick improvements to the user experience, it’s best to go straight to your users for feedback.

17. Airbnb’s global check-in tool

This case study by Vibha Bamba, Design Lead on Airbnb’s Host Success team, shows us how observing user behaviors inspired the creation of a global check-in tool:

By observing interactions between guests and hosts, the Airbnb team discovered a design opportunity. This led to the creation of visual check-in guides for Airbnb guests, which they can access both offline and online.

There’s a lot to be learned from observing user behavior. Don’t limit yourself to insights obtained from periodic research. Instead, observe how people interact with your product in their daily lives. The insights obtained from such observations can help unlock ingenious design opportunities.

18. Spotify Home Shortcuts

This case study by Nhi Ngo, a Senior User Researcher at Spotify shows us the importance of a human perspective in a data-driven world:

When the Spotify team set out to develop and launch the ML-powered Shortcuts feature on the home tab, they hit a brick wall with the naming. A/B tests came back inconclusive. In the end, they had to go with the product designer’s suggestion of giving the feature a name that would create a more human and personal experience for users.

This led to the creation of a humanistic product feature that evoked joy in Spotify’s users and led to the incorporation of more time-based features in the model, making the content more time-sensitive for users.

Although data-driven research is powerful, it doesn’t hold all the answers. So in your quest to uncover answers through research, never lose sight of the all-important human perspective.

Artificial intelligence

The following case studies are centered around the design of AI-powered products.

19. AI-powered spatial banking for Apple Vision Pro

If you want to be wowed by a futuristic case study that merges artificial intelligence with spatial banking, you should check this out:

In this revolutionary case study, UXDA designers offer a sneak peek into the future with a banking experience powered by AI. They unveil their vision of AI-powered spatial banking on the visionOS platform, showcasing its features and their AI use cases.

This case study shows us the importance of pushing boundaries to create innovative experiences that cater to user needs and preferences.

20. Sage Express

If what you need is an AI case study that isn’t information-dense, this one is for you:

This case study by Arounda takes us through the design of Sage Express, an AI-powered data discovery tool that automatically extracts patterns, tendencies, and insights from data. It outlines the challenge, proposes a solution, and details the journey of bringing the proposed solution to life. But it doesn’t stop there: it also shows the actual results of the design using tangible metrics.

This case study underscores the importance of showing your outcomes in tangible form. You’ve worked hard on a project, but what were the actual results?

If you’re looking for a clean and well-structured AI case study, this will be helpful:

This case study takes us through the process of creating Delfi, an AI-driven banking financial report system. It details the entire design process from onboarding to prototype creation.

If there’s one thing to learn from this case study, it’s how a well-structured presentation can simplify complex information. Although the case study is heavy on financial data, the organized layout not only enhances visual appeal but also aids comprehension.

This article has shown you 21 powerful case study examples across various niches, each providing valuable insights into the design process. These case studies demonstrate the importance of showcasing the design journey, not just the final polished product.

When creating your own case study, remember to walk your users through the design process, the challenges you faced, and your solutions. This gives potential recruiters and clients a glimpse of your creativity and problem-solving skills.

And finally, don’t forget to add that human touch. Let your personality shine through and don’t be afraid to inject a little playfulness and storytelling where appropriate. By doing so, you can craft a case study that leaves a lasting impression on your audience.

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Finding meaning: Creativity in instructional design

Creativity is often discussed as the representation of the highest human creation. It is essential to human development, innovation, and societal progress. It has been conceptualized as essential in various disciplines, from engineering to design. However, due to its complexity, creativity has been approached differently by different authors in different disciplines.

Instructional design is the systematic process of creating learning experiences that are effective and appropriate. Limited research has been conducted to describe what creativity means in instructional design and how to include creativity in instructional design education, in addition to which learning techniques or activities use instructional designers that can foster creative thinking. This dissertation consists of three research studies that explore the meaning and perception of creativity in instructional design and instructional designers and how they include creativity in their everyday practice.

The first study of this dissertation examines the extent to which creativity has been intentionally addressed in instructional design core courses. This multiple case study examines the degree to which one online instructional design master's degree program and its course designers incorporate elements (intentionally or unintentionally) that could foster students' creativity and creative thinking. Results indicated that core courses included learning activities and instructional strategies with the potential to foster creativity. However, explicit references mentioning creativity or being creative were scarce.

The second study explores the perception of creativity and creativity in instructional design through the lens of six academic experts in the field of instructional design, using a phenomenographic approach. Results showed four distinctive categories of experiencing creativity and creativity in instructional design. These categories of descriptions formed an outcome space with two main approaches: “Understanding of Creativity,” in which 1) Creativity is a human skill that requires intentionality, and “Perceptions of Creativity in instructional design” where 2) Creativity is a fundamental element in instructional design but is not acknowledged , 3) Creativity is related to the development of the designer's character and, 4) Creativity as a pedagogical and conceptual challenge to include ID education. Additionally, participants discussed their approaches to including creativity in their teaching.

The third study used a participatory design approach to co-create what creativity means and looks like for instructional designers. Participants included instructional designers and faculty from instructional design programs. No single definition resulted from the activities; rather, multiple themes arose throughout, adding to what is known about instructional designers' competencies related to creativity and adding a new dimension to the research about creativity in the instructional design field. Findings evidence the need for instructional designers to acknowledge the creative process better rather than focus exclusively or primarily on processes and products. Additionally, it highlights the intricated relationship between creativity and instructional design and the importance of adding creativity into instructional design education, developing creative self-efficacy in instructional designers, and exploring the role of creative thinking in the work of instructional designers.

Taken together, these three qualitative studies explored and described creativity in instructional design in different phases. The results revealed that creativity is a complex concept for instructional designers to conceptualize and define. However, it is beneficial to discuss it in different contexts, such as academia and the workplace.

Degree Type

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Curriculum and Instruction

Campus location

• West Lafayette

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Additional committee member 2, additional committee member 3, additional committee member 4, usage metrics.

• Higher education
• Curriculum and pedagogy theory and development

50+ Design Thinking Case Study Examples

Design Thinking Case Studies demonstrate the value of the Design Thinking methodology. They show how this Design Thinking methodology helps creatively solve problems and improve the success rate of innovation and increase collaboration in corporations, education, social impact work and the public sector by focusing on the needs of humans.

There are many Design Thinking Case Study examples on the web, but few meet the criteria for a robust case study: a clear description of the methodology, steps undertaken, experimentation through rapid prototypes and testing with people and finally documented results from the process. In this section, we have been selective about the design thinking case study examples that we highlight. We look for Design Thinking Case Studies that demonstrate how a problem was tackled and wherever possible the results or effect that the project produced. Our goal in curating this section of Design Thinking Case Study examples is quality over quantity.

Browse this page to view all Design Thinking Case Study examples, or if you are looking for Design Thinking Case Studies in a specific industry or marketing vertical, then rather start with the Design Thinking Case Studies Index .

If you have an interesting application of Design Thinking that you have a case study for, we would be happy to publish it.

Submit your Design Thinking Case Study for publication here.

Design Thinking Case Study Index

Welcome to the Design Thinking Case Study Index. There are many Design Thinking Case Studies on the internet. Many are retrofitted descriptions of what occurred, rather than evidence of the Design Thinking process in action. In order to bring a higher standard to the practice of Design Thinking, we require stronger evidence and rigor. Only members can post and must provide strong evidence in the Design Thinking Case Study that the Design Thinking process was used to create the original idea for the product or service solution. The criteria that needs to be proved to make your project a Design Thinking Case Study are:

The Guardian: Benefits of Design Thinking

Design thinking helped The Guardian newspaper and publishing group change their funding model, boost revenue and adapt their culture and engage on an emotional level with their readers. In this case study, Alex Breuer, Executive Creative Director and Tara Herman, Executive Editor, Design explain how design thinking was able to achieve these goals for The Guardian.

Read more...

Tackling the Opioid Crisis at the Human and Systems Levels

How the Lummi Tribal clinic used design to address opioid overdoses

Applying Design Thinking Internally

Applying Design Thinking internally, within a group, community or to ourselves. This is a new application of the Design Thinking Methodology.

An internal application in this sense can have two meanings. First, the internal application of design thinking tactics within a group, organization or community, and second, the internal application of design thinking to one’s own self and life.

Can Design Thinking help you solve your own problems?

The Use of Design Thinking in MNCH Programs, Ghana

Responding to growing interest among designers, global health practitioners, and funders in understanding the potential benefits of applying design thinking methods and tools to solving complex social problems, the Innovations for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH) Initiative (Innovations) developed and piloted innovative interventions to address common barriers to improving the effectiveness of basic MNCH health services in low-resource settings.

Société Générale's Time Tracking Nightmare Solved

In 2017, employees, managers, and partners of Société Générale Global Solution Centre agreed that invoices based on time tracking and project allocation were a chronic and painful challenge.

At SG-GSC, customers were billed for the time each assigned employee worked. The process of collecting the time worked by those employees (HCC) was a complicated and difficult ordeal. It consumed 21 days per month for senior employees. These employees had to navigate different systems, many types of contracts, high staff mobility, and a variety of processes between business lines.

How to Stimulate Innovation in Your Organization With Design Thinking

In this use case the cities of Aalborg and Rotterdam share their findings obtained from design thinking initiatives. This is based on empirical research as part of an evaluation. The use case is written for other professionals in the field of design in public organizations.

One of the main targets of the Interreg NSR project Like! is to create a digital innovative culture in which citizens are engaged, and more inclusive services are build. To reach this the municipalities started several initiatives with design thinking. In these initiatives one of the objectives was to find out how design thinking can help us to develop innovative and inclusive services. To research what design thinking contributed, we evaluated the pilots with participants.

The Impact of Design Thinking on Innovation: A Case Study at Scania IT

Organizational culture represents a crucial factor for the introduction of innovation throughout the organization via Design Thinking and agile way of working. Thus, the organization must establish a culture that encompasses a shared vision with values that create a commitment to learn, experiment and accept failure.

Oral B - Putting the User At the Center of Innovation

Oral B wanted to integrate digital technology into their electric toothbrush. The Brands first thoughts were to help users to track how well they were brushing their teeth. Future Facility, a product design firm in the UK suggested a different approach. Focus on the pain points of electric toothbrush users.

This case study discusses the importance of placing the user at the center of your innovation activities.

Design Thinking at Innogy

eCarSharing:   Energy Solutions for the New Generation

In 2015, Itai Ben-Jacob pitched his own ideas for a viable business model and developed the idea for innogy’s eCarSharing project in a design thinking workshop. His goal was to explore one of innogy’s innovation focus areas, ‘urban mobility.’

Together with fellow innovation hub members he organized a series of design thinking workshops to wade through the expansive topic of urban concepts – one of them focusing on mobility: “ We wanted to understand urban mobility – what does it actually entail? What type of business should we start? “

Building Cape Town’s Resilience Qualities Through Design Thinking.

This case study focuses on a Design Thinking Workshop for primary school learners. The aim of the workshops was to provide learners with a new set of skills which they can employ when problem solving for real world challenges.

Building resilience is essential for cities that face increasing uncertainty and new challenges that threaten the well-being of its citizens. This is especially important when looking at the diversity and complexity of potential shocks and stresses. 

Cape Town’s efforts to build skills in design thinking supports the creation of locally-relevant and innovative solutions that contribute to building resilient individuals and communities in Cape Town.

Designing Waste Out of the Food System

The average American  wastes  enough food each month to feed another person for 19 days. Through a number of projects with The Rockefeller Foundation and other organizations, IDEO designers from across the U.S. devised novel ways to tackle food waste.

B2B Design Thinking: Product Innovation when the User is a Network

When B2B companies talk about user experience, they are really considering the aggregated needs of multiple people and roles in a large ecosystem. But what happens when those objectives are vastly different for every individual?

“Humans don’t stop being humans just because they entered an office building.”

Self-Checkout: Improving Scan Accuracy Through Design

In this unique applied research study, academics and designers partnered with four of ECR’s Retailer members to immerse themselves in the self-checkout experience, understanding from the perspectives of the shopper and self-checkout supervisors, their journey from entry to exit, and their design challenges and frustrations.

Co-designing OTP Bank’s Strategic Plan for Growth

This is an example of accelerating a transformation through co-design. Eighty-two professionals gathered, representing OTP’s whole organization. Together, they were able to achieve months of work in just three days.

OTP Bank Romania (OTP) was at a key turning point in late 2018. The organization was undergoing changes in its leadership team. This new team helped them develop an ambitious goal:

OTP Bank will double its market share in 5 years.

They gathered for two Discovery sessions in December 2018. In these sessions, a carefully selected senior team chose three market segments to focus on. Then they built these segments into Personas.

IDEO: Journey to Mastery

While this is not a case study as such, it sits in our case study section as it is an important piece of information from a consultancy that played a large part in popularizing Design Thinking. In their Journey to Mastery section, IDEO discuss and shine a light on the shortcomings of the design thinking term and how it has been applied. I.e that it is not designing and that just knowing and using the practice does not in itself produce amazing solutions to problems.

It is worth a read to understand some of the nuance that is important to successful design thinking work.

Singapore Government: Building Service Platforms Around Moments in Life

In 2017, the product development team at Singapore’s Government Technology Agency (GovTech) was tasked to develop a tool to consolidate citizen-facing services previously delivered by different government agencies onto a single platform. The initiative, Moments of Life, sought to make it easier for citizens to discover and access relevant services during important changes in their lives by reducing fragmentation and being more anticipatory in the delivery of those services.

Organizing the delivery of services around a citizen’s journey, rather than fitting their delivery to existing processes, required extensive interagency collaboration beyond functional silos.

Mayo Clinic: Design Thinking in Health Care – Case Study

In the early 2000s, Mayo Clinic physician Nicholas LaRusso asked himself a question: if we can test new drugs in clinical trials, can we in a similarly rigorous way test new kinds of doctor-patient interactions?  

Consequently, the Mayo Clinic set up a skunkworks outpatient lab called SPARC. Within 6 years it had grown to an enterprise wide department called the Center for Innovation a dedicated research and design-oriented institute that studies the processes of health care provision, from the initial phone call, to the clinic visit, to the diagnosis and treatment of the problem, to follow-up and preventive care.

Design Thinking and Participation in Switzerland: Lessons Learned from Three Government Case Studies

Olivier Glassey, Jean-Henry Morin, Patrick Genoud, Giorgio Pauletto

This paper examines how design thinking and serious game approaches can be used to support participation.

In these case studies the authors discovered the following results.

Perceived usefulness. Based on informal discussions and debriefing sessions following all workshops, it is clear that the vast majority of workshop participants explicitly stated that both the actual outcome of the workshop and the methods used would significantly contribute to enhancing their performance in their work. Some workshops have actually led to follow up workshops or concrete actions based on the outcome.

Asili: Addressing an Entire Ecosystem of Need in a Rural Community

Design Thinking in HR at Deutche Telekom

Reza Moussavian, a senior HR and IT executive at Deutsch Telekom explains the company's journey and how important Design Thinking is as a business strategy for HR. Reza Moussavian's presentation provides great examples of issues tackled in HR and the results achieved. The presenter claims that there is not a singe issue that Deutche Telekom tackles in HR now that does not start with a Design Thinking methodology.

"Design Thinking solves 5% of our problems." says Reza Moussavian, "What we found out was that the magic was really in the implementation phase. We had to learn how to keep the momentum, the spirit and the fire from the co-creation workshops alive through the long implementation phase. Success is really about technology, transformation and leadership skills."

Design Thinking in Education: Perspectives, Opportunities and Challenges

This very informative article discusses design thinking as a process and mindset for collaboratively finding solutions for wicked problems in a variety of educational settings. Through a systematic literature review the article organizes case studies, reports, theoretical reflections, and other scholarly work to enhance our understanding of the purposes, contexts, benefits, limitations, affordances, constraints, effects and outcomes of design thinking in education.

Specifically, the review pursues four questions:

Design Thinking in the Classroom: What can we do about Bullying?

As children move from kindergarten, through middle school, and to high school, instruction shifts from stories to facts, from speculation to specifics, and imagination fades from focus. Design Thinking provides an alternative model to traditional ways of learning academic content by challenging students to find answers to complex, nuanced problems with multiple solutions and by fostering students’ ability to act as change agents.

Design Thinking is all about building creative confidence — a sense that “I can change the world.” In the Bullies & Bystanders Design Challenge, the students discovered that changing themselves might be even more important.

Following One School District's Approach to Innovation for the 21st Century

In her doctoral paper Loraine Rossi de Campos explores the use of Design Thinking in a school district for a 4-5 grade school.

India: Using ‘Design Thinking’ to Enhance Urban Redevelopment.

The discourse on urban planning and development has evolved over the last century with top-down methods of planning urban spaces giving way to bottom-up approaches that involve residents and other stakeholders in the design process. While the notion of participation and user involvement is considered critical to the design of appropriate and acceptable urban forms, there is no clear consensus in the literature on the methodology to be used to involve users and stakeholders in the design process. In this paper, we propose that the use of ‘Design-Thinking’ – a methodology for Human-Centred Design that is often used in product design and related industries – may be an effective methodology for engaging stakeholders in the urban design domain.

E*Trade: From Idea to Investment in 5 Minutes

Why the Financial Services Sector Should Embrace Design Thinking. Financial institutions need to evolve rapidly or risk disruption at the hands of nimble Fintech start-up companies.

In this article Kunal Vaed, The Street, describes how E*Trade used design thinking to enable the company to help investors get smarter by going from the idea of investing to an investment in 5 minutes.

E*Trade's Adaptive Portfolio service offering provides a good example of the work and results that E*Trade achieved with Design Thinking.

Fidelity Labs: Optimizing near-term savings goals

Thanks to providers like Fidelity, people can rely on easy, convenient systems to stay on track with their retirement savings. But when it comes to saving for important near-term goals (think: vacation, house, or wedding), people tend to be less organized. 

Fidelity Labs tackled this problem and defined the challenge as: "How might we improve the experience of saving for near-term goals? How might we make it easier, faster, and better?"

Design for Action: MassMutual and Intercorp Group

How to use design thinking to make great things actually happen by Tim Brown and Roger L. Martin. In this great HBR article, the authors look at design thinking in Finance with two case studies, one from MassMutual and the other from Intercorp. Group of Peru.

In this article highlighting the development of the acceptance of Design Thinking, they discuss how Design Thinking helps to create the artifact that creates the new solution as well as the intervention/s that brings the artifact to life.

How to Use Design Thinking to Make Great Things Actually Happen

Ever since it became clear that smart design led to the success of many products, companies have been employing it in other areas, from customer experiences, to strategy, to business ecosystems. But as design is used in increasingly complex contexts, a new hurdle has emerged: gaining acceptance (for the new solutions).

4 Design Thinking Case Studies in Healthcare: Nursing

The 4 case studies by Penn Nursing illustrate how nurses can be really powerful collaborators and generators of solutions within Healthcare. The videos describe the main attributes that nurses bring to the problem solving table

Philips: Improving the Patient Experience

Philips Ambient Experience service offers hospitals a way to radically improve the patient experience and results that they can achieve from their CT scanning suites. The best way to understand what it is is to watch this video  and this video  discussing the latest addition to the service. The white paper from Philips is also a good source of information on the Ambient Experience Service.

IBM: Design Thinking Adaptation and Adoption at Scale

How IBM made sense of ‘generic design thinking’ for tens of thousands of people. 

Generic design thinking often faces heavy resistance from influential skeptics, gets misunderstood or not understood at all, or less dire, it gets picked up with an unreflected euphoria and is applied as a “silver bullet” to all kinds of problems and projects (the famous “methodology misfit” we also see with Scrum for example). The big hangover often comes after the first experimentation budgets are expended and at worst a blame game starts.

Design Thinking in Public Engagement: Two Case Studies

Dave Robertson presents two case studies with the British Columbia Government (Canada). One with the Ministry of Transportation discussing their (public servant centered website), the other solving the problem of finding a solution to where to place a power substation.

Dave shows how he was stuck working in the public sector as a consultant and how creativity expressed through the Design Thinking methodology helped him to see a different, more effective way of creating solutions.

Bank of America Helps Customers Keep the Change

How do you encourage new customers to open bank accounts? In 2004, Bank of America used the Design Thinking methodology to look at the problem from a human centered perspective when they assigned design agency IDEO to boost their enrollment numbers: a problem that at the time, lacked any user perspective on why it was so hard for customers to save.

Redesigning The Employment Pass Application in Singapore

The Ministry of Manpower’s Work Pass Division (WPD) used design thinking as a tool to develop better ways to support foreigners who choose Singapore as a destination to live, work and set up businesses. The case reveals: Design thinking can potentially transform the perception and meaning of public service.

The team found out that the service redesign process required a better understanding of the decision points of both users and non-users. This involved taking a closer look at the opportunities and difficulties facing users, including those who had succeeded and failed within it, or had encountered problems or avoided it.

The US Tax Forms Simplification Project

This case concerns one of the earliest attempts by design thinkers at designing a large, complex system. It shows that design approaches in the public sector can look back at a long history. And it reveals how design thinking within the organization must include members of the whole organization in the design process.

Design has a long tradition and a rich history in the public sector. Nearly 40 years ago, when the US Congress passed the Paperwork Reduction Act into law, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) turned to designers in an effort to implement the new policy and to improve its relationship with taxpayers. 

A Tough Crowd: Using Design Thinking to Help Traditional German Butchers

Between 2004 and 2014, more than 4000 butcher shops were forced to shut down in Germany. When last was the butcher shop redesigned? The process started in the 1990s, as supermarkets became the favored spot for meat-shopping. As if a dramatic loss of market share was not enough, the industry as a whole started suffering from a serious image crisis. It was time to apply design Thinking to the traditional German Butcher Shop.

The initial problem statement read “Create the meat shop 2.0, an up-to-date version of the classic butcher business”. 

IDEO: Using Design Thinking to Create a Better Car

The challenge.

Remove roadblocks that can compromise the in-car experience for the Lincoln car company.

The final product, the Lincoln MKC luxury crossover, is credited with helping the Lincoln brand outpace growth in the luxury segment by more than two-to-one over competitors.

THE OUTCOME

A pop-up studio where IDEO designers helped departments communicate and collaborate more effectively.

Transforming Constructivist Learning into Action: Design Thinking in Education

In an ever changing society of the 21st century, there is a demand to equip students with meta competences going beyond cognitive knowledge. Education, therefore, needs a transition from transferring knowledge to developing individual potentials with the help of constructivist learning. A Scheer, C Noweski,  C Meinel , University of Potsdam, Germany.

Design Thinking is the most effective method of teaching constructivist learning.

Scaling Design Thinking in the Enterprise, a 5 Year Study

During Julie Baher's five years at  Citrix  between 2010 to 2015, she was fortunate to gain first-hand experience leading a transformation in product strategy to a customer-centered approach. It began when several senior executives attended the  design thinking boot camp  at Stanford’s d-school, returning with a new vision for the product development processes. Julie goes into detail about how they scaled up the customer centric methodology across the organizations 8,000 employees.

Developing Environmental Sustainability Strategies

Developing environmental sustainability strategies, the Double Diamond method of LCA and design thinking: a case study from aged care. Journal of Cleaner Production, 85, 67-82. Stephen J. Clune*, Simon Lockrey.

Developing an App for Type II Diabetes

Development and testing of a mobile application to support diabetes self-management for people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes: a design thinking case study. Numerous mobile applications have been developed to support diabetes-self-management. However, the majority of these applications lack a theoretical foundation and the involvement of people with diabetes during development. The aim of this study was to develop and test a mobile application (app) supporting diabetes self-management among people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes using design thinking. The article was written by Mira Petersen and Nana F. Hempler.

Improving UX in Public Transportation

In this case study the project leaders goal was to  improve the experience of bus users  on Madrid's EMT system by offering a technological solution to  increase the users’ satisfaction with regard to accessibility  during the bus trip as well as when waiting for the bus to arrive.

Transforming Life Insurance through Design Thinking

To some fintechs, non-insurance incumbents, and venture capitalists, the industry’s challenges suggest opportunity. The life insurance value chain is increasingly losing share to these players, who are chipping away at the profit pool. 

How might incumbent life insurers keep pace in today’s fast-moving competitive environment and meet customers’ changing needs?

Deploying the Design Thinking methodology in the insurance sector could be the key to helping save insurance from itself. Here's what McKinsey has to say about design thinking in insurance in their article "Transforming Life Insurance through Design Thinking".

"Better addressing the evolving needs of consumers can help incumbents win their loyalty—and protect against new competitors. 

Bringing Design Thinking to the Insurance World

Pancentric helped  Jelf kick-off a several-year digital transformation journey by getting to know not just their customers better, but their own staff, too. Jelf has dozens of offices around the UK, all with specialties in insuring different kinds of commercial businesses. For our project team trying to determine a roadmap of new developments, there was no easy overview of how each office operated or what the entire customer experience looked like.

The Features of Design Thinking in Fast Moving Consumer Goods Brand Development

This paper investigates what features of design thinking are employed in FMCG brand development via stakeholder interviews in three domains: agencies, companies, and retailers. This paper concludes with suggestions of how design thinking can be embraced in FMCG brand development.

A Chain of Innovation The Creation of Swiffer

This is a great case study that underlines the complexity of bringing game changing products to market. It helps to provide an understanding of just how much more is needed that a simple five step process of idea generation.

Read more from Continuum , the Design Firm responsible for the Swiffer

The Guardian: Using Design to Reaffirm Values

The Guardian's redesign, which launched in January 2018, illustrated the business impact when design is valued. The Guardian has a strong culture of design and increasingly, how design thinking can contribute to organizational change and development.