Aart School

Oct 11

Research Plan

Project summary
I am looking to create a product and or service that will improve the experience of being a hospital patient. Currently hospital rooms — and the things in them — are designed for the ease of the staff and the safety of the patient. This is a good thing, but little thought is given to the patient’s experience. Beds are very uncomfortable, light switches and bedside tables are unreachable. Machines that beep loudly, bright lights, and other patients disturb sleep. The needs of visitors’ are rarely considered. Aesthetics are seldom taken into account. Other than TVs there is nothing to engage, stimulate or distract the patient.  

Research objectives/questions

  1. What projects have been done already?
  2. What are the problem areas for patients, visitors, and staff?
  3. What scientific research has been done in this area?

Exploring these questions will inspire and direct the direction, design and, final outcome of the project. 

Proposed methodolog(ies)

Explain why a given method is suited to a particular question

  1. Secondary research, via internet, books, magazines, etc. will reveal the breadth of what exists.
  2. Interviews with patients, families, hospital staff. Shadow patient, family, staff at a hospital will show what is actually going on in the hospitals. The material will be analyzed via card sorting or other methods, tbd.  
  3. Secondary research, via internet, books, magazines, etc. will let me know if studies confirm or deny other findings. 

Timeframe and milestones

Week of 3 October

  1. Reach out to contacts in health care community to find institutions and individuals willing to be interviewed
  2. Continue secondary research

Week of 10 October

Week of 17 October

Potential audience

Who are you designing for? 

My ultimate audience is the patient themselves. Secondary audiences are the visitors, andhospital staff.

What do you know about your audience so far, and what questions have you yet to answer?

Patients

I know:

I want to know:

Visitors

I know: 

I want to know:

Hospital Staff

I know:

I want to know:

Hospital  Administration

I know:

I want to know:

Experience you intend and form it might take 

Describe the experience you’d like your solution to provide and what do you plan to make to communicate the experience.

To envision a future patient-centered experience. Quiet rooms, with furniture and necessary items that are easily accessible. Rooms that can be customized by the patient to feel like home. Communication with staff and outsiders that is simple to navigate and close at hand.  I’m not sure what I’d make to communicate the experience, perhaps a video.

Market Context

What are the opportunities for your thesis idea in the marketplace? 

This thesis topic could result in a service to be implemented by hospitals. It might also be a product that is supplied by the hospital or purchased by the patient.  

Background Research

What’s already been done in this field, and how does it relate to your query? Provide examples of projects, books, projects, or technologies that serve as background research for your topic, and your evaluation of their relevance.

So far my research has yielded projects in several different categories:

Service design plans specific to an institution

Architectural solutions

Many of these are rooted in “evidence-based design.”

High-tech Solutions

  1. Everything from robots on rounds to smart beds. 
  2. A media-drive room for the VA (the info is not public currently)

Hybrid

Why topic is relevant/interesting

My interest started when my father, who died of pancreatic cancer five years ago, was in the hospital. I saw how the experience of the hospital setting affected him. He developed hospital-induced psychosis, a common occurrence. My mother and I did everything we could to normalize his experience. We would write the date every day on the wipe-board in his room, bring him books, magazines, etc.  

Last year my mother, who passed away in May, was in the hospital and a hospital-based rehab facility for six months. I was able to see how the environment affected her, myself, and other visitors. She once quipped: ”the person who designed this bed should be made to sleep in it.” Unable to get out of bed on her own, any item placed further than arm’s reach was completely inaccessible. Using boxes from medical supplies, she cleverly hacked a series of table-top organizers to maximize space for personal items on the table that went over the bed. When she entered the rehab facility the first thing I did was to decorate the room — I bought plants to brighten the room and hung pictures to inspire and amuse her. I also brought games and puzzles and forced her to do them with me to aid her cognitive ability. 

What do you hope to gain from the experience? 

I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the problem, and aid with real-world solutions.

How is it relevant to you?

Unfortunately, we will all be in hospitals many times in our lives, as patients, friends, and family members. I wish to make it the best experience it can be under the circumstances.   

Project plan

What are your next steps?

Delve into research and interviews so that I can narrow the focus.

One particular area in all of this I’d like to explore more deeply is how family and visitors interact with the patient — specifically in aiding the cognitive development of patients. For instance following surgery my mother was awake but unresponsive for two months. I would take pictures around the city on my iPhone and then show them to her and talk to her about them. I would draw pictures for her using “Brushes” on the phone. Later when she was able to communicate I would bring jigsaw puzzles, matching games, and colored blocks in order to get her to move and think. Could some set of tool kits be developed so that family can help the patient heal?  

Apr 07

Sample web page designed to match iPhone app.

Sample web page designed to match iPhone app.

Dec 23

Final Project -

Fundamentals of Physical Computing

Final Project by  Stephanie Aaron, Gene Lu, Colleen Miler, and Beatriz Vizcanio

MindFULL is a device that helps people develop the habit of eating slowly.

It takes the brain 20 minutes to know it’s full, but most American eat their meals in 10 minutes or less. MindFULL helps you slow down, chew your food and focus on your eating.

Eating slower helps with weight loss, prevents indigestion, enhances enjoyment of food and helps relieve stress by being mindful.

MindFULL works by calculating the amount of time your fork (or other utensil) is in the air and alerts you that it’s time to put it down. By consciously  putting your fork down in a specific place you train your mind in this habit.

Here’s a link to Gene’s post on how it works:

http://www.genelu.com/content/view/186/13/

Midterm -

Fundamentals of Physical Computing

Midterm Project

SAVI: The Smart Audio Volume Indicator Phone

A project with Jeff Kirsch and Evinn Quinn

Basically, Jeff’s post (see link) says it all. Additionally, this technology would fit into any phone, it would not be the huge 1980s-sized phone in our mockup.

Dec 16

RADIO LAB PART 2 -

Fundamentals of Physical Computing

Lab Ten: Radio lab

Using Xbee radios to create wireless doorbells. This one has a led or feedback

Radio Lab Part 1 -

Fundamentals of Physical Computing

Lab Ten: Radio lab

Using Xbee radios to create wireless doorbells.

Dec 01

Animated Function -

Fundamentals of Physical Computing

Lab Seven: Programing Lab 2, part 12: Animated Function

Three instances of the function Mr. Happy Guy animates from top left to bottom right of the page

    Nov 29

    Bounce -

    Fundamentals of Physical Computing

    Lab Seven: Programing Lab 2, part 8: Bounce

    Square bounces but loses energy over time.

    Mr. Happy Guy with Catepillars -

    Fundamentals of Physical Computing

    Lab Seven: Programing Lab 2, part 11: Shared Function

    YOUR OWN FUNCTION

    1. Add your own feature to the world! You might want to use a character you’ve already created, or devise a new feature. Be creative and colorful! Make your feature with at least 3 shapes.
    2. Put your feature into its own appropriately named function, and add at least 2 parameters to move it around the screen. Try to add a parameter to change the size of the character/feature.
    3. Add comments to your functions, include your name in those comments, and include descriptions what the parameters do in the function.
    4. Use your function in the sketch. Populate your sketch with at least 5 instances of your feature/character.
    5. Share your function with the class! Put the code for your function in the message body of an e-mail and send it to the class group mailing list.
    6. Save As.. this sketch, naming it yourname-myfunction

    Mr. Happy Guy -

    Fundamentals of Physical Computing

    Lab Seven: Programing Lab 2, part 10: My Happy Guy

    YOUR OWN FUNCTION

    1. Add your own feature to the world! You might want to use a character you’ve already created, or devise a new feature. Be creative and colorful! Make your feature with at least 3 shapes.
    2. Put your feature into its own appropriately named function, and add at least 2 parameters to move it around the screen. Try to add a parameter to change the size of the character/feature.
    3. Add comments to your functions, include your name in those comments, and include descriptions what the parameters do in the function.
    4. Use your function in the sketch. Populate your sketch with at least 5 instances of your feature/character.
    5. Share your function with the class! Put the code for your function in the message body of an e-mail and send it to the class group mailing list.
    6. Save As.. this sketch, naming it yourname-myfunction