Design Research

Our Philosophy

The planning and design of a new facility provide an opportunity to pursue innovations that enhance service quality by improving efficiency, reducing duplication, and increasing flexibility. Whether it’s a nurse trying to get from their station and back to the ICU or a visitor traveling from the front door of your facility to the top floor, understanding the form and function of a space is paramount to its future success. Our Design Research team’s goal is to help clients and design teams maximize facility spaces to meet peak performance and holistically enhance the user experience.

 

Our Approach

We apply a human-centered process with advanced analytics and modeling tools to test new concepts and align design solutions with operational and experiential goals. We see ourselves as embedded members of the design team. Depending on the project need, we conduct pre-design operational facility assessment, advanced data analytics, and journey mapping to gain a deep understanding of current operations. We tailor our research to answer specific questions and provide actionable insights. We are highly focused on generating high-value research to inform the decision-making process.

Meet the Team

Adrienne Erdman, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

Director of Healthcare Design Research

Maryam Hosseini, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

WISE Research Associate

Suzy Genzler, CHID, EDAC

Research Associate and Medical planner

LarriJo Boone, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

Critical Care Nurse

Our Expertise

Simulation Modeling and Capacity Planning

In a healthcare facility, simulation modeling can predict periods of peak patient flow and optimize equipment, resources, and space. Using data from publicly available information and models, we use facility-focused simulation modeling to determine expected time-based volume needs, allowing us to increase access to treatment, minimize wait times and enhance the staff experience.

Lean, Agile & Process-led Design

Process improvement is often a key part of new facility planning or renovations. Aligning objectives for an elevated human experience requires early focus on guiding principles, measures of success, and an inclusive process that includes stakeholder participation to better understand priorities and articulate future goals.

Functional & Condition Assessment

Condition assessments can identify fragmentation in departmental adjacencies and identify the quality of space in terms of reuse or renovation requirements in the context of master planning.

Workflow Alignment & Performance Optimization

DOTT® is a multifunctional web app developed by EwingCole that we use to map workflows, capture patterns of use, and assess the condition of facilities to gain insights on functional and environmental performance such as bottlenecks or user pathways. DOTT® activity mapping functionality can uncover patterns of space utilization to demonstrate functional success or to identify underutilized spaces for future expansion.