This document discusses the concept of medical doctors as designers. It describes how the author works at the intersection of design, health, and technology. It provides examples of participatory design projects focused on redesigning medical devices like EpiPens based on input from patients. These projects aim to address problems through an approach of empathy, defining problems based on patient needs, ideating solutions collaboratively, prototyping, and iterative user testing. The author advocates for integrating design practices into healthcare work flows and designing with diverse communities rather than just for them.

1. Joyce Lee, MD, MPH
Doctor as Designer
Twitter: @joyclee
@healthbyus #vutechtalk
Medical Doctor as
Maker Designer
Participatory Design for
Healthcare

2. I have no ties to any
pharmaceutical companies
Social Media/Web Editor
of JAMA Pediatrics

3. Obesity & Type 2 Diabetes:
Biomarkers/Child Health Policy
Type 1 Diabetes:
Learning Health Systems
Mobile Technology/Data Visualization/
Participatory Design/Online Communities

5. “Folk in black turtlenecks and
designer glasses working on small
things like the Apple Watch” -TB
This is a medical designer

6. “A pediatric endocrinologist who
spends her days seeing patients in
clinic and writing grants & papers that
no one will ever read?”
This is a medical designer?
No black turtleneck?
No designer glasses?

7. Part 1: A Personal
Design Experiment

8. “B”

10. #design #fail

12. #lazytigermother

15. 700+ students
& 40 teachers

18. #designsuccess
#proudtigermother
1769 views!

19. http://ihavefoodallergies.tumblr.com

20. B’s Trilogy Part 2:
Ingredients and Food Handling

21. B’s Trilogy Part 3: Asthma

22. #design #fail

27. Design
Insights
about the Production of
Health and the Future
of Medicine

28. We were
experts

29. We were
makers

30. We were
collaborators

31. Patient as
expert
maker
collaborator
#futureofhealthcare

32. Part #2 of the journey:
“Learning to design
is learning to see”
-Oliver Reichenstein

33. #design #suckiness

35. The needle
is opposite
to the cap,
which is
counter-
intuitive
Design Flaw #1

36. >15,000
Unintentional injections
from Epi-Pens in the US
between 1994-2007
There were

37. 0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
< 6 yrs
6-12 yrs18-64 yrs
Total
13-17 yrs
>64 yrs
Unintentional Injections with
Epinephrine auto-injectors
Simons, 2010

38. Greenberg, 2010
“A large number of health care
professionals including nurses,
p a r a m e d i c s , a n d p h y s i c i a n s
inadvertently self-inject while
attempting to administer the EpiPen
to patients…
“365 injections over 6 years in 1
poison ctr”

39. Life or
death is
stressful!
Don’t make
me think!
Design Flaw #2

40. It’s an
awkward
size, &
doesn’t fit
in your
pockets
Design Flaw #3

41. Blackberry iPhone

43. Redesign #1

44. Redesign #2

45. Redesign #3

46. It was designed by patients!

48. “patients frequently do not understand
how and when to use [the epi-pen].”
Sicherer, 2011
In medicine, we often
blame the patient

49. “patients frequently do not understand
how and when to use [the epi-pen].”
Sicherer, 2011
But is it a patient problem or
is it a design problem?
The needle
is opposite
to the cap,
which is
counter-
intuitive

50. Sicherer, 2011
In medicine, we often
blame the patient
“Children had only used their EpiPen device
in 29% of recurrent anaphylaxis reactions.
This is perhaps unsurprising because a fear
of needles/injections is common”

51. “Children had only used their EpiPen device
in 29% of recurrent anaphylaxis reactions.
This is perhaps unsurprising because a fear
of needles/injections is common”
Sicherer, 2011
But is it a patient problem or
is it a design problem?
Life or
death is
stressful!
Don’t make
me think!

52. “patients often forget [the device],
allow it to expire”
Sicherer, 2011
In medicine, we often
blame the patient

53. But is it a patient problem or
is it a design problem?
“patients often forget [the device],
allow it to expire”
Sicherer, 2011
It’s an
awkward
size, &
doesn’t fit
in your
pockets

55. Patient problems
are really
design problems

56. Fix the design,
and it’s no longer the
patient’s problem

57. Let patients and caregivers
design, and they will
fix the problem!
The Nightscout
Project

58. 75%
of children fail to achieve
recommended blood sugar
goals in Type 1 Diabetes

59. 75%
of healthcare providers/
systems fail to help children
achieve recommended blood
sugar goals in Type 1 Diabetes

60. Part #3 of the
Journey
#polarvortex

61. Healthdesignby.us

62. Human-Centered
Design Thinking
”An approach that puts
human needs, capabilities,
and behavior first, then
designs to accommodate
those needs, capabilities,
and ways of behaving”

63. Participatory Design
”an approach to design
attempting to actively
involve all stakeholders in
the design process to help
ensure the result meets their
needs and is usable”

64. Committee Work:
“Communications to Improve
Clinical Care”

65. Interdisciplinary Workshops:
“Design My Diabetes Solution”

66. Community Events:
“My Dream Diabetes Device”

67. Empathy PrototypeDefine Ideate Test

70. Empathy
Understand a problem
before solving it

71. Define
Patient-defined problem

72. Ideate
Collaborative, creative
brainstorming

73. Prototype
Sketch, draw, glue, code

74. Test
Iterative Feedback from User

81. Design=
Distraction from Health
A critical tool for the creation of health

83. Maker Movement
Do It Yourself (DIY)
Learning by Doing
Peer-to-Peer

87. Maker
Movement
Participatory
Design
=

88. DIY = Expert
Learning by doing = Maker
Peer-to-Peer = Collaborator

89. The Secret Life of
Medical Devices

90. We #makehealth Fest

91. Expert
“Doctors are
experts,
not patients
#cultureofhealthcare

92. “Only certified health
professionals should
be creating health”
Maker
#cultureofhealthcare

93. “Health is
created doctor
TO patient”
Collaborator
#cultureofhealthcare

94. “IT said you
can’t do that!”
#cultureofhealthcare

95. MD to Patient
Passive
Solitary

96. Patient to Patient
Active
Collaborative

97. You are a designer

100. I don't feel like getting
yelled at today
he makes me feel stupid

101. “Don't cry
(says a boy to his mom)”

102. #waitingwaitingwaiting

105. Design WITH and not
FOR Patients

107. Integrate design into
your daily workflow

108. Design with members
of a different tribe,
not your own

109. “it can also come off
as arrogant when a
d e s i g n e r f a i l s t o
respect the solutions
that already exist,
particularly those that
have evolved from
within a community.”
Check your ego at the door

118. HealthDesignBy.Us
Twitter: @healthbyus
@joyclee
Our patient experts, John Marshall, Matt Kenyon,
Patricia Anderson, Nancy Benovich Gilby, Emily
Puckett Rogers, Scott Olson, Amy Cohn, Patricia
Abbott, Kelly Parent, John Costik, Jose Gomez-
Marquez, Emily Hirschfeld, Charles Woodson
Research Fund, UM Provost, & the
healthdesignby.us virtual community

119. #designthinkinghellokitty