Some thoughts – post 2
After going to the PICU, I was caught off guard by one common complaint by both doctors and nurses on the floor – the aesthetics. Honestly – I went in thinking that there would be some device that just totally was falling short. Either EPIC, the IVs/pumps, maybe even the beds themselves! While all those came up here and there, the common denominator – and the one that received about half the discussion – was something dealing with aesthetics, space management, activities, etc. Bottom line – it wasn’t a device.
Maybe it’s the part of the traditional engineer in me that can’t be at peace with that, but I think it’s something really important to grasp onto. Even if you’re in a facility that has a high procedural success rate, great doctors, and good funding, there still is an aesthetic element that cannot be ignored. Wesley, a 7ish year-old we talked to for a while, wanted murals of animals on the walls. He was equally concerned about there being color and life in the place than the treatments themselves.
I think the important thing to think of when you’re designing anything – a device, a procedure, a space, whatever – is that you are designing for people. You’re not designing for a condition. It’s not just a name on a piece of paper. They have feelings, desires, wants, and preferences. No matter how much we want to boil down needs to a physiological condition sometimes, we can’t do it fully. There’s a human aspect to it, and there always will be.
BME Design 