Seattle Children’s is a top pediatric hospital that delivers patient care, advances new discoveries and treatments through pediatric research and serves as the pediatric and adolescent academic medical center for Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.
My team and I worked with the team members and patient families at Seattle Children’s that were knowledgeable of and involved in the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) experience during pediatric cancer treatment.
Pediatric cancer families receiving treatment at Seattle Children's often stay in the hospital for months prior to discharge. The discharge process can be a stressful transition for these families who then become solely responsible for their child's care after leaving the hospital.
User Experience Researcher
January - June 2020
Kathy Bui - UX Researcher
Ashley Boone - UX Researcher
Melissa Pao - UX Researcher
Miro
Atlas.ti
Figma
To understand the experiences of the patient families and BMT nurses, my team and I conducted thorough research with artifact walkthroughs, subject matter expert interviews and user interviews. Our learnings culminated in a set of deliverables that were presented to Seattle Children's leadership, proposing new processes and designs aimed at enhancing the pediatric cancer discharge experience.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM SPACE
To better understand the healthcare setting we would be working in, my team and I conducted four subject matter experts interviews, gaining a better understanding of the end to end Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) experience and began to identify the touch points within the process.
We also conducted artifact walkthroughs of discharge related materials to gather context about the resources and materials used by nurses and patient families.
Following our background research, my team and I interviewed 11 nurses and 3 patient families to gain a better understanding of the discharge process from their perspective.
We carefully coded our interviews with Atlas.ti and synthesized our findings through group discussion.
After synthesizing our findings and conducting a thematic analysis of our interview takeaways, we established our research question that would guide the development of our deliverables:
Based on our synthesized findings and themes, my team and I brainstormed a set of deliverables that could be easily implemented into the current discharge timeline without adding further stress to the hospital team and patient families.
Synthesize a list of recommendations to reconfigure Epic, a patient charting system, to help bedside nurses better identify potential gaps in education
Develop an activity worksheet to guide patient families in creating an action plan for their first hours and days at home, post-discharge
Design a graphic that provides additional context of the discharge process, including existing pain points, for patients and nurses
FINAL DELIVERABLES
Methods for tracking the level of education patient caregivers have received and their comfort level with each topic.
Seattle Children's charting system does not fully support staff in documenting patient education progress.
As Seattle Children’s Hospital will be migrating to Epic, a new patient charting software, we are providing recommendations for methods in which the interface can be configured to promote more comprehensive documentation surrounding patient education.
An infographic that visualizes the most important touchpoints experienced within the discharge journey. Staff and patients can use the visual as a reference during their inpatient stay.
The complexity of the patient discharge experience can act as a barrier when trying to clearly understand all the steps that lead to a successful discharge.
We consolidated the different phases of the patient discharge experience in a journey map to help those involved in the discharge process gain a better understanding of the bigger picture.
A personalizable worksheet for patient families to reference, outlining their first night and week of discharge.
From our conversations with nurses and patient families, we found that patient families struggled during their first night at home with confidence in caretaking.
The take-home schedule worksheet is a guided activity developed to support patient families in preparing to care for their child after discharge.
The worksheet will support families to proactively develop a plan for themselves, allow caregivers to take advantage of nursing staff support, alleviate stress by structuring responsibilities, and encourage them to find time for themselves.
CHALLENGES
My team and I's biggest concern when working with Seattle Children's was to ensure the patient families we spoke to were comfortable and respected. We made sure to proceed with flexibility when it came to scheduling interviews and follow-ups regarding our design solutions and gave participants a pressure-free space to speak on their experiences with the discharge process.
Prior to working with Seattle Children's, I had not had the opportunity to apply my UX knowledge to interfaces outside of pure technology. Once my team and I established the need to develop non-digital deliverables for our users, we were able to switch gears and address the needs of pen-and-paper versus a mobile or web interface.
REFLECTION
This project was an intensive deep dive into the UX research process for my team and me. The experience allowed me to expand my own definition of what it means to be a good designer as I've learned firsthand the impact of well-executed research and what can be accomplished when I speak to users first-hand.
While working with Seattle Children's, we were impacted by COVID-19 and suddenly unable to visit the hospital and conduct research in person. These obstacles, however, pushed my team and I to be innovative with our design process and create design solutions that would be feasible to implement during the pandemic.
Due to the preset end date of our project, we were unable to gather insights on how our design deliverables would impact the patient discharge process in practice after delivering them. If we were to continue our work, I would like to revisit and speak to more hospital staff and patient families who have implemented and used our designs and address any new pain points that may have surfaced.
Thank you to our wonderful sponsor, Staci Heldring, for her unwavering support and guidance.
Thank you to my powerhouse capstone team who showed me what true collaboration and teamwork is.
Designed by LXM