A Reflection on the Visualisation tool of Design Thinking

Challenge:

During the course of post graduation, last year, when myself and my fellow classmate were  interning in an esteemed hospital, our reporting manager or perhaps our internship guide  presented to us the challenge in bringing a behavioural change in nurses’ way of  communication among themselves as well as with the patients and the caretakers from the  respective family to which the patients belonged. We were asked if we could bring about a  change in the nurses’ understanding of the importance of their communication in terms of  many aspects say their appraisal, their satisfaction, customers’ satisfaction (patients and  caretakers), hospital’s reputation, and above all leaving a touching and kind impact on the  mind & hearts of the people who visited the hospital. We were asked to conduct a training  programme.

Selection:

In my discussion with my fellow intern about the challenge presented in front of us, we first  asked each other “If either of us were on the learning side, what mode would we have  preferred?” So, both of us wanted to get in touch with our audience before coming up with a  solution (training). It was then we tried classifying our target audience and in an attempt to  understand their persona better, we decided to interview around 20 nurses individually. We  just had a normal conversation with them in which we found out that our target audience was  a local group and would learn better if training material had a local connect and that most of  their functional and behavioural trainings were just routine power point presentations with  limited visual contents. In an attempt to empathize with their personas, we understood that  use of “visualisation tool” could not only bring the required change but also be satisfying  enough.

Application:

Myself and my friend designed our training module with video clips and decided to conduct  games in the training hall for a participative approach. While the video clips on  communication skills were mostly in local language of the target audience, the games we  used conveyed the importance non-verbal communication and sign languages. We used  polite, decent and relevant comedy clips of famous local comedians from the local movies  with which nurses were able to connect pretty much on a greater scale. During games, when  nurses who took part were completely themselves, the other part of the trainees who were the  audience were able to visually see what skills they actually needed to work on and related it  to the learning from videos. So, this visualisation tool acted as a self-realization tool rather  than the hospital telling them what skills they lacked.

Insights & Approach:

Post session, besides the usual feedback forms myself and my friend decided to get back for a  small conversation with the 20 nurses for a more open feedback in their language. We got to

know that they found the session very engaging and infact wanted a whole day session in  future for other areas of their behavioural trainings as well. They said this mode of training  did not only deliver learning but also was a stress buster as it made them feel light hearted. So  they basically considered type of training as a fun-filled & productive break from work. They  expressed their need for recognition like a simple “wall of fame” and then we realised we  needed to include head nurses and doctors in the training programme along with nurses and  address the importance of recognition and its impact on nurses’ performance and happiness at  work. So, this design tool helped us develop another module which in turn achieved all the  needs of the hospital staves and the customers.


A Reflection on the Visualisation tool of Design Thinking Challenge : During the course of post graduation , last year , when myself and my fellow classmate were interning in an esteemed hospital , our reporting manager or perhaps our internship guide presented to us the challenge in bringing a behavioural change in nurses ’ way of communication among themselves as well as with the patients and the caretakers from the respective family to which the patients belonged . We were asked if we could bring about a change in the nurses ’ understanding of the importance of their communication in terms of many aspects say their appraisal , their satisfaction , customers ’ satisfaction ( patients and caretakers ) , hospital ’s reputation , and above all leaving a touching and kind impact on the mind & hearts of the people who visited the hospital . We were asked to conduct a training programme . Selection : In my discussion with my fellow intern about the challenge presented in front of us , we first asked each other “ If either of us were on the learning side , what mode would we have preferred ? ” So , both of us wanted to get in touch with our audience before coming up with a solution ( training ) . It was then we tried classifying our target audience and in an attempt to understand their persona better , we decided to interview around 20 nurses individually . We just had a normal conversation with them in which we found out that our target audience was a local group and would learn better if training material had a local connect and that most of their functional and behavioural trainings were just routine power point presentations with limited visual contents . In an attempt to empathize with their personas , we understood that use of “ visualisation tool ” could not only bring the required change but also be satisfying enough . Application : Myself and my friend designed our training module with video clips and decided to conduct games in the training hall for a participative approach . While the video clips on communication skills were mostly in local language of the target audience , the games we used conveyed the importance non - verbal communication and sign languages . We used polite , decent and relevant comedy clips of famous local comedians from the local movies with which nurses were able to connect pretty much on a greater scale . During games , when nurses who took part were completely themselves , the other part of the trainees who were the audience were able to visually see what skills they actually needed to work on and related it to the learning from videos . So , this visualisation tool acted as a self - realization tool rather than the hospital telling them what skills they lacked . Insights & Approach : Post session , besides the usual feedback forms myself and my friend decided to get back for a small conversation with the 20 nurses for a more open feedback in their language . We got to know that they found the session very engaging and infact wanted a whole day session in future for other areas of their behavioural trainings as well . They said this mode of training did not only deliver learning but also was a stress buster as it made them feel light hearted . So they basically considered type of training as a fun - filled & productive break from work . They expressed their need for recognition like a simple “ wall of fame ” and then we realised we needed to include head nurses and doctors in the training programme along with nurses and address the importance of recognition and its impact on nurses ’ performance and happiness at work . So , this design tool helped us develop another module which in turn achieved all the needs of the hospital staves and the customers .