MANTA Participates in IDSA Medical Workshops

The Manta industrial design team participated in two IDSA Medical pre-conference workshops on March 28 to discuss contextual inquiry, ethnographic research methods and user experience mapping for complex medical settings.

The morning session, Contextual Inquiry in the Clinical Environment, consisted of a live simulated laparoscopic surgery scenario where designer professionals and human factors engineers got the chance to interact with surgeons and hospital experts and learn about healthcare research techniques. Learnings from research sessions are best documented in a traceability map, which allows designers to map out users, activities, tools, risks and potential opportunities which can be translated into design inputs.

During the afternoon Healthcare Experience Mapping session Manta participated in a Child Labor and Delivery simulation. The team was divided into groups for this ethnographic exercise, with specific team members observing and logging information on individual users, interactions, pains/gains, needs and opportunities during the scenario. This data was then compiled by the groups into procedure flow charts which were then presented back to the group to report on our findings. As designers we have the unique ability to map out and visualize user experiences, which allows people to see and understand user pain points and opportunities for improvement within a given situation.

Many thanks to IDSA and Boston Children’s Hospital for hosting this very engaging and informative event!