This week I found it interesting to learn more about the design process, and the various ways it has been metaphorically displayed, and plan to put it into practice in my upcoming project.
My favourite of these is the double diamond, as I find it to comprehensively detail the various processes and phases, and their aims, to diverge or converge. I find it useful that in each step of the process, the graphic shows you at which phase you should be in, which I believe may prevent working too fast or skips being stepped in research, leading to the highest quality outcome after thorough user and product research, evaluation and iteration.
I found this slightly more useful to me than the other visualisations shown in the lecture this week, due to its simplicity and emphasis on divergence and convergence.
I also looked into IDEO’s design kit and their philosophy on human centred design. Some important take-outs I gleaned from this research was the importance of empathy in UX, one quote which stood out to me was “I can’t come up with any new ideas if all I do is exist in my own life.” This emphasises the importance of researching and thinking of the user as you design, as we can not expect them to be like us. It also emphasises that it is necessary to be interested in the lives of the users, as it can inspire us to innovate in our designs.
From the design kit I also found that UX design is inherently iterative, as users change over time, and keeping up to date with their problems and needs is necessary to keep a product useful and enjoyable to them through iteration and tweaking.
I also found the class exercise on Miro a useful task, as each class member’s view on what UX is, for example, gave me a more comprehensive and multi-faceted definition of the subject. I also considered some user experiences I have had in the past, and one which stood out to me was cashing in a cheque recently on Monzo. The app allowed me to cash it in with just a photograph, saving me the hassle of going to a bank branch, and also gave reassurance of when the money would appear in my account, so that I knew the action had been completed successfully.
My role in the group’s work during this week’s tutorial was to research healthcare in another country. I chose Switzerland as it is world renowned for its quality healthcare.
Swiss healthcare has, according to the survey I viewed, 90% satisfaction rating among patients; and high quality and plentiful medical equipment and staff, with short waiting lists. Health insurance is mandatory, but comes with many benefits, such as health advice from the insurers and the choice of add ons like private hospital rooms and dental cover. Insurance costs are quickly rising, with the average person spending around 8% of their annual income on health insurance, and is the third most expensive in Europe and America.
The swiss health sector is moving towards online tools, such as services to engage coordination between the various staff involved in a person’s healthcare, such as carers, nurses, GPs and pharmacists. This means that doctors can get a fuller grasp of a person’s overall health so that they can more accirately determine if a person (such as an elderly person who relies on outside care) is fit to leave hospital without risk of readmission.
Doctors can also use a database to share and view clinical data to ascertain the quality of care within the country and assist in improving it cooperatively.
The most useful thing I believe we can learn from this in developing our own health sector is allowing coordination between medical staff across the country through digital platforms.