Human-Centered Design in Healthcare: Real Stories, Real Solutions
How journey mapping and design thinking are transforming healthcare experiences
In today’s competitive healthcare landscape, human-centered design is emerging as a powerful differentiator for patient loyalty and trust. During a recent NRC Health webcast, Strategic Advisor Ryan Donohue, Chief Experience Officer Jennifer Baron, and Steve Koch and Jonathan Pathuis, Managing Partners from Cast & Hue, discussed the transformative power of human-centered design in healthcare. The session illuminated how organizations can shift from system-centered thinking to people-centered innovation to truly enhance the patient experience.
Why Human-Centered Design Matters in Healthcare
Healthcare is about people, yet the industry too often focuses on internal processes rather than individual needs. Human-centered design flips that script. By understanding the emotions, challenges, and journeys of patients, healthcare providers can design experiences that build trust, foster loyalty, and differentiate their brands in the marketplace.
As Donohue reminded attendees, “We have the best intentions. We have the patient in focus, but we’re going to talk about the challenge of remaining patient-centered.” This acknowledgement set the stage for a discussion that challenged attendees to consider healthcare from the patient’s point of view, from navigating diagnoses to handling billing frustrations.
Journey Mapping: Illuminating the Real Patient Experience
Journey mapping is a foundational tool in human-centered healthcare design. It visualizes a patient’s entire interaction with a healthcare system, pinpointing emotional highs and lows and identifying opportunities for improvement. By including input from patients, families, and care teams, organizations gain a comprehensive view of the patient journey.
Case in point: Ohio Health leveraged journey mapping to reimagine the emergency room (ER) experience. While electronic health record systems initially seemed like the biggest pain point, the mapping process revealed that parking challenges and unclear discharge instructions were far more detrimental to patient satisfaction. With this insight, the organization could focus improvement efforts where they truly mattered.
Design Thinking in Action: Empathy to Innovation
Journey mapping feeds directly into design thinking, a framework that puts empathy and co-creation at the heart of innovation:
- Empathize—Conduct interviews and listening sessions to uncover emotional and practical patient needs.
- Define—Synthesize insights into clear problem statements, ensuring that the focus stays on what matters most.
- Ideate—Brainstorm potential solutions, even unconventional ones, to spark innovation.
- Prototype—Develop low-fidelity models that invite feedback from real users.
- Test—Gather input from patients and staff to refine solutions before full-scale implementation.
- Implement—Rollout the solution with the audience.
Ohio Health applied this framework in design-thinking workshops focused on ER pain points. From reimagining the drop-off and parking experience to developing clearer discharge protocols, the team co-created solutions with both patients and staff. One simple yet impactful innovation? A comfort cart in the waiting room stocked with ice packs, Band-Aids, and playing cards—small touches that significantly improved perceptions of care.
Getting Started: Strategies for Implementation
The speakers offered clear advice for organizations ready to embed human-centered design into their operations:
- Start small. Tackle manageable challenges that can demonstrate quick wins.
- Collaborate broadly. Engage cross-functional teams, including patients, in every phase.
- Build capability. Train staff in design thinking to make empathy and iteration part of your culture.
Designing Care That Builds Trust
Human-centered design is about more than improving HCAHPS scores. It’s about showing patients that they are truly seen, heard, and valued. Through tools like journey mapping and the design-thinking framework, healthcare organizations can create experiences that are not only more personalized but also more effective and lasting.
As healthcare continues to evolve, prioritizing the human element will be the defining factor in delivering better care, building stronger relationships, and achieving sustainable success.
