About the project

This PhD explores Tangible Service Design Artifacting and investigates in which ways the design of physical attributes of tools can support relational challenges within multidisciplinary healthcare service development teams.

In light of the economical and societal challenges facing todays public healthcare systems, collaborative alliances and cross sector collaborations between healthcare organisations and related parties are playing an increasingly important role in developed countries as a means of developing better quality healthcare services for more people, with less resources. As the design of healthcare services entails a complex, collaborative effort in the reconfiguration of available resources, there is a need to build and broker expert relations in and between organisations in the early phases of service development.

This PhD explores the role that tangibility in Service Design approaches can have in public health and questions in which ways the design of physical attributes of tools can support relational challenges within multidisciplinary healthcare service development teams. The research builds upon several disciplines from Service Design, Interaction Design and Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and follows a research through design methodology, adopted and realised through qualitative research methods. Here, situated exploratory design processes and techniques have been applied to trace, document and analyse the design, development, contexts and activities of Tangible Tools.

The complexity of Tangible Tools and the significance that the designed physical attributes of tools can have in SD contexts, are unpacked through several key concepts such as Tangible Service Innovation, how the use of physical artifacts in SD methods can support aspects of Service Designing that influence Service Innovation and Tangible Service Design Artifacting, the exploration and design of physical artifacts used in SD methods resulting in research prototypes of Tangible Tools.

The PhD is part of the Centre for Connected Care (C3), that aims to accelerate adoption and diffusion of patient-centric innovations that change patient pathways and delivery systems, empower patients and increase growth in the healthcare industry. C3 is a Centre for Research-based Innovation (SFI), and supported by The Research Council of Norway. The initiative was started in 2015 and will run for the duration of 8 years.

Supervisor: Andrew Morrison