Emily Fishbaine

Challenge

A leading global medical device manufacturer suspected that there may be opportunities to improve a product that had been on the market for many years. They asked our team to go into the field and observe the product in use at three hospitals. 

Approach

Observe users in their everyday context of use. Conduct informal interviews without disrupting normal workflow. Document the users and environment thoroughly and respectfully.

After obtaining the necessary credentials, the team visited 3 hospitals in 2 countries. We shadowed a key clinician and spoke with nurses, physicians assistants, doctors, and department managers throughout the day as availability allowed, speaking to 19 clinicians in total and observing 10 ongoing cases. We toured Intensive Care Units, as well as secondary support areas, such as stock rooms and equipment processing areas.

Outcome

Through direct observation, we learned about user work-arounds, clinician debates about best practices, and how clinicians handled data. These on-site observations were essential to our development of deep insights about unmet needs and opportunity areas.