Back in the studio

We have now collected all of the primary research materials. The interviews have been transcribed, the probes sorted and their content analyzed. Below are some images of our synthesis process, where we design new interpretations of the research material.

archiving all the probe materials

three initial personas: “condition at a contingency point”, “condition is invisible”,
and “owns their condition”

the teens are teens FIRST and patients second.

Recruiting finished at CHOC

We have recruited our hemophilia participants from Children’s Hospital of Orange County. This process proved to be more challenging than at Stanford, probably due to two factors: that it is the beginning of Summer break and that the majority of hemophilia patients are boys and perhaps less interested in sharing about their illness. We take these factors as welcome challenges. How do we engage ALL teens. And how do summer activities affect health and lifestyles.

3rd RWJF workshop in Nashville

This workshop was for sharing research results and thoughts so far with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation national advisory board, and proposing a solid direction for the prototype phase. The foundation was generally impressed with the depth of our findings and how they had already influenced the way the teens’ physicians understood the teens. We were encouraged to push our prototype in a speculative, futuristic direction, and to include elements of social networking that we know the teens already engage in.

Stanford interviews

Last weekend we conducted our second set of interviews with the Stanford juvenile arthritis patients. All the interviews were in the teens’ homes and each teen had a friend present. We talked about their views on health and well-being, social activities, use of technology, and listened to what the important things were in their lives. We saw that each teen had a different relationship with their illness; some being more defined by it than others. Some didn’t mention their illness at all. One thing we heard repeatedly is how their illness made them feel old in some way. One teen called her weekly pill organizer her “old lady pill container.” Another said she was a little kid living in an 80 year old’s body. We see that there needs to be a better way for them to define their health in teen terms.

Tape Type

On our analog blog we use tape to create type on windows. Here is a little video about the process.

Off to Nashville!

This week Lisa, Sean, and Phil from Art Center plus several of our non-Art Center partners are off to Nashville for the second national workshop thrown by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

IRC & IRB Approvals Received

Our study falls under the rubric of medical research. As such we have had to apply for and receive approval for our research from external review boards. This has been a complicated process due to the review boards unfamiliarity with our pre-design research practices. The review board deals exclusively with quantifiable research methods and did not know how to handle our open ended approach. Future design studies within a medical context will face similar hurdles and we hope to summarize our experience for others to help them through this process.

MDP visits colloquium.

The graduate Media Design Program’s colloquium class visited Dognod last week.
We presented our work so far to them, along with what we have learned about the insurance and permissions requirements of working within a medical contexts. At the end we had the class brainstorm on the words “health” and “well being”. Analysis of their work paints a sad picture of graduate life—a world of students in need of a hug, a good meal, and time for friends.

First kick off workshop hosted by Art Center!

January 11 + 12, Workshop hosted by Art Center team
After planning some work sessions, making avatars for all the participants, and buying an iDog door prize, we opened our doors to all of the team members from around the country. These are the people who will be involved in our project. Some are consulting and others are directly involved with the teens we are conducting research with, and Moto is our technology partner.

In attendance:
DOGNOD, the Design Research Team, Spring 2007: Sean Donahue, Laura Janisse, Kim Miller, Lisa Nugent, Hannah Regier, Tina Park, Peter Shultz, and Phil van Allen
CHOC: Diane Nugent, M.D.
STANFORD: Peter Chira, M.D.
MOTO: Daniell Hebert
GENETIC ALLIANCE: James O’Leary
CULTURAL PARTNERSHIPS: Claudia Petruccio
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: Steven Hunt, M.D.
RESEARCH CONSULTANT: Marie-Helene Yalom

Highlights of the two day event included Lisa’s presentation of our project outline. She included a youTube video of a projected skateboarder cruising above the store facades of Rotterdam. The skater is now our key inspirational mascot. “What if health records could follow you around as effortlessly as the skater?” We also got to watch Lisa nod as a dog as she introduced our studio name, DOGNOD.

We learned about “binder moms” from Diane — the moms of patients who bring binders of health information with them to appointments. Peter Chira said he asked his patients if they would be interested in meeting other teens with Juvenile Arthritis. He got a resounding yes. So we are thinking about networking possibilities for our population.

Kim Miller won the iDog for her encyclopedic knowledge of the OC and other teen related knowledge.