Health Design Thinking: Creating Products and Services for Better Health

by Bon Ku, Ellen Lupton

Applying the principles of human-centered design to real-world health care challenges, from drug packaging to early detection of breast cancer.

This book makes a case for applying the principles of design thinking to real-world health care challenges. As health care systems around the globe struggle to expand access, improve outcomes, and control costs, Health Design Thinking offers a human-centered approach for designing health care products and services, with examples and case studies that range from drug packaging and exam rooms to internet-connected devices for early detection of breast cancer. Written by leaders in the field--Bon Ku, a physician and founder of the innovative Health Design Lab at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, and Ellen Lupton, an award-winning graphic designer and curator at Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum--the book outlines the fundamentals of design thinking and highlights important products, prototypes, and research in health design.

Health design thinking uses play and experimentation rather than a rigid methodology. It draws on interviews, observations, diagrams, storytelling, physical models, and role playing; design teams focus not on technology but on problems faced by patients and clinicians. The book's diverse case studies show health design thinking in action. These include the development of PillPack, which frames prescription drug delivery in terms of user experience design; a credit card-size device that allows patients to generate their own electrocardiograms; and improved emergency room signage. Drawings, photographs, storyboards, and other visualizations accompany the case studies.

Copublished with Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Health Care, Health, Business, Science, Art Design

228 pages, Paperback

Published March 17, 2020

Reviews

[Mitchell Fullerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a great textbook for a biomedical engineering design class! Wish I had this in undergrad.

[Parisa Soraya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent concepts, and great intro book for healthcare professionals new to design thinking. Found a little less novel / more introductory for folks already in the human centered design space.

[Lipsa Panda · Rating 5 out of 5]

great resources
well written
lots of excellent case studies
patient journey visualizations

[Jennifer P · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must-read for designers to clinicians to healthcare administrators. Bringing design thinking and patient centrality into healthcare is key to improving not just the healthcare experience but also a patient's health, wellness, and quality of life. This book goes into methods and concrete examples that have been successful in transforming how clinicians provide care and how patients engage with their health.

[Natalia Harzu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

Good concise review of methods and projects in health design thinking. Nothing exceptional, just good quality and it's enough for first approach.

[Olesya · Rating 5 out of 5]

«Запитання в системі охорони здоров‘я є складними. Відповіді рідко бувають однозначними, та лікарів навчають ставити точні діагнози й лікувати захворювання.
Однак проблеми в медицині - починаючи з того, як розширити доступність первинної допомоги, і закінчуючи тим, як зменшити кількість медичних помилок, - важко розв‘язати в межах традиційного медичного світогляду.
Хоча доказовий підхід до розгляду хвороб успішно працює в біомедичних дослідженнях, він не підходить для розв‘язання багатьох проблем системи охорони здоров‘я. Науковий метод, що грунтується на гіпотезах, припускає, що ви знаєте, які саме запитання ставити. Але частіше за все ми ставимо неправильні запитання...»
І тут з‘являється ця книжка, яку і книжкою вважати не треба. Це радше альбом, воркбук, ідейник. Красиві малюнки, що приправлені концентрованим текстом.
Тут дізнаєтеся про стіни, які розмовляють, про сад сенсорних мистецтв, про вплив «Тойоти» і «Епл» на медицину, знайдете детальний план розв‘язку проблем, про які навіть не здогадувалися, але які точно є у вашому закладі...

Що ж, поповнила список медичних мрій і вкотре прокайфувала від якісної роботи ArtHuss.
До прочитання керівникам, медикам і сміливцям у сфері охорони здоров‘я.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful primer/refresher on design thinking, analyzed through a health/healthcare lens.

It’s essentially broke up into two main sections: principles and methods and case studies (with a short section at the end about ways to encourage adoption of design thinking at an organizational/team level).

The case studies really really stood out and helped illustrate the principles and methods highlighted in the first section. I appreciate the variety of applications of design thinking and included a diverse collection of examples from all over the world.

I’d highly recommend this book to new and seasoned designers alike, either transitioning to or deepening their understanding of design within the health/healthcare space. There’s a lot of untapped potential in a sometimes rigid and risk-averse field that could benefit greatly from the approaches outlined in this book.

[Danny Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Health Design Thinking" takes you through the steps of exactly what it's advertised to do; it shows ways how healthcare and design can be combined. Before reading this book, I would have assumed that would mean more collaboration between healthcare professionals and designers, which indeed should happen but this book is more focused on how people in healthcare can adopt a designer-like mindset. Design, in a larger sense, is the ultimate form of empathy because you have to think about how your choices may impact the end user in many different ways. Many of the decisions made in healthcare is often algorithmic –there are literally guidelines for everything. Having design in mind breathes creativity into that environment and can augment for better health outcomes, as many of the case studies in this book showed.

As a healthcare student, I was encouraged to keep thinking outside of the box – "How can we be more creative to provide better care?" As the book states, creativity is not a rare talent as it is a fundamental human capacity that anyone can cultivate. With the help of other disciplines, the patients and adequate support, true transformation can occur in healthcare through design. Although the book often gets slightly repetitive in describing design methods, I think its extensive knowledge and the evident love for humanity and design present between the lines would make me want to recommend it to anyone in healthcare.

[Aamna Naveed · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite thing about this is the diversity and range of design applications in healthcare, from redesigning hospital layouts to empower patients, clinic friendly clothing that is functional+comfortable+stylish, to accessible digital health records, the many examples and case studies are not only really cool and interesting but also show the theory of design thinking in practice. It is clear that Bon Ku has so much experience and passion in this field, it is truly reflected in his writing and thorough exploration of this topic. Worth the read even if you are not in healthcare - it's just that interesting!

[Alyssa Foll · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly inspirational read on the intersection of design thinking and healthcare! This should be required reading of all medical school students, residents, and for others in the "business" side of healthcare. I appreciated the overview of different approaches (brainstorming, prototyping, interviewing, etc.) and the examples of actual labs where the design projects take place.
This is a book that I'll be returning to over and over again.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as a landscape architect interested in design for health. Generally had good insight into a lot of participatory design practices that can enable better design in healthcare settings and interesting case studies.

[Frederico Andrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book! Brings many applications in real life scenarios, nice explanations and simple communication.

[Natalie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great book with real-world applications. Easy read. Appreciated having visuals to complement the case studies.

[Fabricia Jung · Rating 4 out of 5]

O mais interessante dos livros são os cases comentados. Serve bastante como Inspiração e insights.

[Emil Syundyukov · Rating 5 out of 5]

A practical, hands-on guide for Design thinking methodology in healthcare. Cool examples of real-life projects included

[Ankit Modi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good concepts & case studies. It helps in reimagining healthcare service delivery from patient’s perspective. The book could have been shorter though.

[Carol Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m really glad they released a second edition of this so quickly with COVID-19 information. It does a great job of highlighting how much the pandemic exposed gaps in healthcare.

[Vardaan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book serves as a good introduction to the optimization of design/planning for healthcare workers who have little to no experience working in workspace improvement. There are countless anecdotes and suggestions put forward by Dr. Ku. I think this book is most useful as a way to increase the awareness of the systems around us in different healthcare settings, but it definitely does so without really guiding you as to how you can do that. And that's the point! You have to be self-aware enough to apply this to your own situation and see these examples as not the end all be all but more of the spark that should light your own fire to figure out what works the best for you in your own situation. I would refer to this book if I ever got to the point where I was opening my own clinic.

[Ivana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book, great examples and updates from Covid-19. Highly recommended !!