Hasta La Ideas

Lessons Learned From Listening
During one of my recent workshops, I was stunned by the nurses’ reactions when I asked them what changes in their routine would make their lives easier. After an awkward silence–I thought I had inadvertently misspoken–one nurse replied, “Nobody really asks us that.”

As designer/researchers at Mayo Clinic’s Center for Innovation (CFI), we provide a forum and voice for collaboration and participatory creation. Being embedded designers affords incredible access to patients and providers. For one “deep-dive” activity, designers interviewed over 30 patients in the patient cafeteria. We can shadow providers to glimpse into their day-in-the-life. We are able to understand first-hand what happens during a patient examination. I will always remember one of my first patient exam observations when a physician told a ninety-seven-year-old woman that she had a polyp in her colon. I remember how her two granddaughters, who had accompanied her, reacted with the possibility of their grandmother having cancer. I remember how the grandmother used humor to mask her fear while asking a myriad of questions about the future, and how the physician gently touched her hand and said, “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

Although rich and necessary information, user-centered research is not always welcomed or easy to corral in spite of being embedded in the institution. In wanting shiny new products and services, we move too quickly. This is a story about the lessons learned when we set aside our assumptions and slow down to listen and understand the needs of people.

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