Patient personas workshops
As a consultant, it was important for me to help my healthcare clients take a walk in patients’ shoes, even if the project timelines, budget or other constraints did not allow for in-depth, primary-source user research. One of my favorite examples of this is a workshop I designed and facilitated to simulate the experience of living with congestive heart failure (CHF).
My Role:
I conceptualized, planned, and facilitated the CHF patient experience simulation for C-suite-level executives.
Approach:
Participants were provided with a number of props that increased the challenge of completing a series of basic tasks (activities of daily living), such as reading post-hospitalization discharge instructions, walking up stairs, and checking the sodium content listed on a soup can label. For example, heavy weighted vests (up to 40 pounds), nose clips, and/or breathing out of a straw created the sensation of shortness of breath. Low-strength prescription glasses mimicked poor eyesight. Colored Tic Tacs were “pills” to be sorted in medication containers.
After ~20-30 minutes of the simulation, we came back together to debrief the physical constraints and emotions experienced as part of the exercise. With a newfound appreciation for the potential challenges of living with chronic illness, the group then reviewed the project deliverables to date (e.g., patient-facing app screens) to identify and prioritize potential enhancements.
What I’m Proud of:
The workshop helped to foster increased empathy for patients that transcended the session itself; client team members consistently referred back to the simulation for the remainder of the consulting engagement.
The client was receptive to incorporating ethnographic interviews into the subsequent phase of work. Whereas prior to the workshop, the client cut research from the scope, assuming that their clinicians alone could represent the voice of the patient.