Designing for Patient Dignity

For the last months our team (Slider Studio, Azhar Architects and manufacturer Grant Westfield) has been involved in the programme "Design for Patient Dignity" - the Department of Health asked the Design Council to bring designers, manufacturers and frontline NHS staff together to see if they could come up with new ideas that would help the NHS improve hospital environments and the experiences of patients.
 

Our brief: 
Design a more dignifying toileting and washing experience in hospital.

Using the toilet and bathroom in hospital poses a particular set of problems and potential embarrassments for many patients, and is often cited as a key argument in the case for same-sex accommodation. If facilities are difficult to access or use, it can make patients feel that their dignity is compromised.

During various hospital visits we found that toilets and bathrooms in hospitals are extremely stressful places, contributing to an undignified experience. To name some of the problems: no mirror above the basin, but instead a visually cluttered space with various soaps, towels, bings etc, no place to put your personal things. Slider Studio developed a Mirror in parallel with ongoing research into ambient assisted living technologies while Azhar focused on prefabricated washrooms. 

In short, the Smart Mirror reorganises the washbasin space in hospital bathrooms and toilets into one prefabricated product that can be retrofitted. It has a large mirror to bring domestic familiarity to the hospital environment, slimline wall- hung storage, integrated lighting, a shaver socket, a waste bin and a grab rail that can also function as a towel hanger. Storage for soap, conditioner and paper towels is integrated and an electronic indicator tells cleaning staff what needs refilling. The exhibited prototype marks our first step of the journey.

Capsule Washroom and Smart Mirror from Design Council on Vimeo.

Collaboration Cafe in use

See the time-schedule to come and meet our team

Transforming Building Centre Cafe to Collaboration Cafe

Last month I was busy designing the exhibition  "Collaboration Cafe" in Building Centre Cafe, London. The exhibition marks the last month of 18-month long R&D program to develop StickyWorld - project review and exhibition platform for creative business and education. The basic idea of StickyWorld is to create virtual rooms where people can pin up work, present, mark-up and comment, all using virtual sticky notes.  

My task as was to transform the daily Building Centre Cafe to Collaboration Cafe with vinyl graphics and user/function-centered table tops.

"Open for business throughout March, the Collaboration Café forms the final component of research and development led by Slider Studio and supported by Edward Cullinan Architects, HTA, Make, Scott Brownrigg and University of East London. The focus of the research, which is part funded by the Technology Strategy Board, has been to develop StickyWorld - a web based project review and exhibition platform for creative business and education. Through the Collaboration Café, the project opens its doors to the public, further enquiring about the nature of collaboration in education, practice, with clients and communities."

StickyWorld featured in:

thepolisblog
extranetevolution 

Democratic Design or Design Democracy

Another brand leaflet...Open for comments and discussions...

The Trunk Test for Web Users

People won't use your web site if they can't find their way around it. Whether you call it usability, ease-of-use, or just good design, companies staking their fortunes and their futures on their Web sites are starting to recognize that it's a bottom-line issue. In Don't Make Me Think, usability expert Steve Krug distills his years of experience and observation into clear, practical - and often amusing - common sense advice for the people in the trenches (the designers, programmers, writers, editors, and Webmasters), the people who tell them what to do (project managers, business planners, and marketing people), and even the people who sign the checks.

I find his method "The trunk test" rather useful and entertaining:

step 1 - choose a page anywhere in the site at random, and print it

step 2 - hold it at arm´s length or squint so you can't really study it

step 3 - As quickly as possible try to find: site ID, page name, sections/ subsections, navigation, search...

Although our designed youcanplan site already looked visually clear, it missed another important  web function - call to action and feedback. By making the site ID/ brand stronger, changing the strap line and adding calls to action, I hope visitors find the site more clear and user friendly.

Define, Create & Communicate

Slider Studio´s previous fledgling site was developed in-house using Flash and ActionScript 2 about three years ago. It included a content management system, an interactive project filter and a little slider navigation feature to reinforce the brand. We have FINALLY retired this site, having outgrown its functionality and brand message. And have accordingly launched a new web 2.0 website with blog, RSS feeds, with clearer brand message.

I am currently working in SliderWeb that offers a wide variety of web development services to organisations across the creative industries and built environment. Our team specialises in defining, creating and communicating clear, compelling brand and marketing messages across interactive media. We work with our clients in the way that best meets their objectives within budget and timeframe, drawing upon fresh perspectives and hands-on practical experience.

Looking forward to your opinion: www.sliderstudio.co.uk

ESP - new website

The website was required by the team to further explain and communicate the concept of ESP, capturing the interest from and informing the public, and to provide resources for regeneration professionals. We built a WordPress site which features blog, videos and downloadable resources. The blog from this website is also an RSS feed into Slider´s main website.
Launch the new website: www-esp-sim.org

ESP - leaflet print

ESP printed flyers, part of Slider´s growing leaflet package...

ESP - graphical toolkit

In parallel to YouCanPlan brand I have been working on toolkit for ESP - Enabled Self Procurement - trying to visualise processes in architecture and planning. These are examples of booklet in progress that hopefully is soon to be found at www.esp-sim.org

YouCanPlan brand - exhibition photos

Photos made in Harrogate in CIH Housing exhibition 2009.

YouCanPlan brand - stand assembly movies

It took our team of 7 people 6 hours to put pieces together and 1.5 hours to assemble the exhibition at first time. I used remote capture photography to record the process. It basically is a software that allows a computer to remotely fire a digital camera connected to it and images can be stored directly onto the computer's hard disk. There are several programs one can use for remote photography the only problem being your camera battery running out...

YouCanPlan brand - exhibition assembly

Important part of the design process was technology - we decided to use cnc-cutting. Although it is super precise, it puts more work on your shoulders. For this exhibition we ended up cutting 17 sheets of plywood and 7 sheets of MDF... altogether it is around 300 pieces that need to become one big puzzle. How easy it is to make a mistake... I am convinced that using cnc-cutting in that kind of size, one needs to do prototypes. We were lucky that there were only few pieces that needed resizing (with hand saw and sanding of course). The following are the examples of sheet layouts when they went into the cutting machine, and instructions for team to put pieces together.

YouCanPlan brand - exhibition

After setting the rules for YouCanPlan brand (mostly still in 2D) I tried to come up with concept that would become exhibition design - a 3D brand. These first images are from chosen design 3D model that we later on realised in SPRUCE plywood with CNC-cutting technology.

YouCanPlan brand - printed

Printed material for CIH Housing exhibition in Harrogate, UK

YouCanPlan brand

YouCanPlan is a creative development service from Slider Studio. It provides community consultation and engagement services and tools for the built environment.
It is important that every brand had a consistent personality that everybody understands and remembers. In spring 2009 we tried to re-think the YouCanPlan brand - to present a strong unified brand that builds up reputation and helps us achieve goals.
www.youcanplan.co.uk