WATCH ME GROW

An Interactive System in The ICU/BCU

Duration

Contribution

Aug 2016 -Oct 2016

Design Research, Ideation, Storyboarding, UI Design, Prototype, and all the other Visual parts

“WATCH ME GROW PROVIDES FAMILIES, PATIENTS, AND STAFF WITH A VISUAL ROADMAP TO RECOVERY.”

Watch Me Grow is an interactive, achievement-tracking, and visualized system, that engages the family, motivates the patient, and reduces negative outcomes throughout the recovery process in the ICU/BCU. It works both on the smart projectors in the patient’s rooms and on the iPads for remote family engagement.

PROBLEM

A stay in an ICU/BCU is a traumatic experience that has tremendous short and long-term effects on the patient and their family. The patients experience a lessened quality of life upon having lost their autonomy, control, and independence, while families are also deeply affected by seeing their loved ones, which is worsened by the lack of communication and comprehension of the situation.

RESEARCH &

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

Map out The Typical Journey

We partnered with clinicians to map out the typical journey of a patient and their family from intake to an intensive care unit through to discharge. We identified all stakeholders, their movements and interactions, as well as all tools and technologies used and moved around the medical floors.

Visit The Hospitals

We visited the empty biocontainment unit at Emory Hospital. This allowed us to get a more practical understanding of the environment, how fast-paced it was, the noise, the number of machines, the presence and absence of family members.

System Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) 2.0 Model

This is a human factors framework for studying and improving the work of healthcare professionals and patients.

Literature Review

We identified a combination of barriers to short- and long-term recovery, and set out to create something that would overcome the barriers by doing so.

Brainstorm

Based on our research, we came up with several ideas.

FINAL CONCEPT

Watch Me Grow builds on the existing system (the white boards in the patient rooms, the smart projectors, the iPads, and the current healthcare system) of setting daily goals for patient recovery, tracking and visualizing patient achievements through the metaphor of a growing tree on both the smart projectors in the patient rooms and on the iPad for remote family engagement.