Insight Co-Founder Zakera Kali helped to bring innovative design practice to life at a recent workshop held in partnership with De Montfort University School of Design and CLASH 2012, a charity aiming to reduce pain and disability resulting from musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions.
Looking afresh at familiar challenges
With millions of people affected by musculoskeletal conditions in the UK, there is a great deal of scope to enhance both their experience and the way in which they are supported by healthcare practitioners. #InnovateMSK brought users of these services together with practitioners and design specialists to address some of the issues through co-design, a process in which users develop solutions for themselves.
The themes of the day included:
- Traditional organisations vs design-led organisations
- Human/patient-centred design
- Affective design
- Exploring the patient journey.
Transforming patient experiences
Zakera led a six-month research project to investigate how design and technology can improve patient and practitioner experiences in MSK. This work provided valuable insights and the workshop continued this process by bringing participants together to identify new ways to explore and resolve some all too familiar challenges. As Zakera commented:
“At Insight, our whole practice is based on the awareness that effective design needs to go a great deal deeper than aesthetics. It’s all about the user. Design not only changes perceptions for the better, but changes experiences for the better too.”
Putting the users first
Zakera also highlighted the impact of user-led design on patient experiences and perceptions and on enhancing the way in which healthcare practitioners work. She supported the participants through the process of developing two concepts which could help address these issues. The positive response and the outcomes of the day were a powerful demonstration of the benefits of co-design. As Co-Founder of Insight consultancy and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, Zakera has a track record of applying smarter design to resolve practical challenges. She said:
“There is a lot of talk about design these days, particularly with the shift to an increasingly online landscape. Despite this, design is still perceived by many as an add-on or simply a way to create a good first impression.
As we highlighted at the #InnovateMSK workshop, powerful design that is based on the user’s needs can achieve so much more. This is true whether you’re looking at an ecommerce website or a patient’s experience of accessing specialist services. In short, great design can be life changing.”
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Posted on: 10th Oct 2014
