Domu
Pediatric hospitalization experience
Digital–physical community for patients to bond with each other and strengthen psychosocial support processes and development of coping mechanisms.
Capstone project, 2017
Personal Highlight
I got to empathize with the children and their families. Deeply understanding their contexts helped me later to explore different ideas. I also tried multiple research methods adapted to children needs and restrictions in a hospital environment.
What I did
Design Research, Experience Design, Prototyping, Game Development, Usability Testing.
Tools
Design Probes (Diary), Interviews, Adobe Illustrator, 3Ds Max, 3D Printing, Unity.
Background
Children have reduced abilities for the development of coping mechanisms.
Hospitalization is a traumatic experience which can be intervened with technology.
Research
Experience was mapped with a journal made by patients in a pediatric care unit and interviews to their companions.
The intention was to understand their reality inside the hospital, their relationships, feelings, expectations and perception of themselves.
The experience mapping activities, along with experts interviews and theoretical research, were analyzed to create a system map.
It involves all the parts that take part in the experience and served as starting point to identify opportunities.
Ideation
A general flowchart involving all the parts that intervene in the experience was created. Wireframes and a storyboard helped on visualizing the concept
The resulting idea is a digital platform with physical interfaces in which patients can interact with other children in their same situation.This proposal is intended to strengthen psychosocial treatment and facilitate the creation of support networks.
Development
We planned the interaction of all the elements and actors of the solution system.
Then coded the digital platforms and prototyped the physical objects using 3D printing.
Testing
Prototypes were introduced in the hospital and tested for 5 days with 2 patients.
Patients and family enjoyed having a different way to spend their time while in isolation. Psychologists recognized the value of the idea in supporting their processes.
