Jonathan Letourneau, MDesMDes: Master of Design Studies
I build and optimize UX capabilities for agile innovation teams within large organizations, leveraging UX research methodologies
to inform service delivery decisions for generative AI and emerging technologies.
Innovation Analyst | Mass General Brigham Emerging Technologies and Solutions (MGBETS)
UX Researcher | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Information Designer | Self-employed
Metaverse Curation and Relations Strategist | American Medical Extended Reality Association (AMXRA)
02.
Patient Experience UX Research
DFCI 234—34/2
Role
UX Researcher
Duration
Three MonthsTeam Size ThreeAudience
Senior Leadership
Objective
Develop a research plan and analyze patient journeys at Dana-Farber, identifying opportunities for digital solutions to enhance the patient experience. Approach
Employed a patient-centric approach by collaborating with PFAC to co-design the research plan. Challenges
Lack of existing UX capabilities in the organization and limited established pathways to conduct patient experience research.
Overview
Project Initiation
Kick-off meeting with team and internal stakeholders.
Background Research
Developed and tested research plan with Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC)
User Research
Conducted 20+ hours of interviews across three languages
Data Synthesis
Reviewed over 1,000 interview notes, created six personas and journey maps.
Reporting
Shared insights with senior leadership and obtained buy-in on recommended next steps
Codesigning a Research Plan
As new entrants to healthcare, our research team spent the first two weeks of the project speaking with staff members and members of PFAC (Patient and Family Advocacy Council) to craft a focused research scope and a trauma-sensitive interview guide.
Interview Selection & Cohort
The research team worked closely with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee to prioritize a diverse patient cohort instead of a representative cohort to promote equity in our findings.
Collaborating on participant selection was critical because identifying participants was reliant on our existing network.
Resourced:
Patients typical of the Dana-Farber demographic.
Under-resourced:
Historically marginalized or excluded groups who represent a smaller portion of Dana-Farber patients
Patient Selection
Our goal for creating a patient cohort was to balance the voices of a typical patient while surfacing the voices of patients who are underrepresented. The resulting cohort consisted of 16 patients who spanned a breadth of ethnic, language, diagnosis, and experience characteristics.
Co-designing the research plan with PFAC was a critical step to facilitating empathetic conversations with patients, which resulted in richer research data
Patient Demographic Considerations
Age
GenderZip Code EthnicityTreatment PlanPrimary LanguageFinancial SupportTechnology Proficiency
Outcomes
Budget Allocation for New Roles
Successfully established three new roles within the organization responsible for content strategy, experience research and design, and business analysisDepartmental Requests for UX Research
Following the presentation, there was a significant increase in requests from teams across the Institute to apply human centered design and research to their projects.
Institutional Recognition
The quality and relevance of the findings led to a request for sharing these insights with the entire organization during a monthly lunch and learn event.
Research Findings & Insights
Artifacts Created
6 Personas
6 Journey maps
The Dana-Farber patient experience is described in journey segments to highlight specific nuances within three key areas of the patient experience.
Presentation Strategy
First-person personas bring the presence of the patient into the decision-making room. Additionally, the contrast between resourced and under-resourced patients ensure solutions can be developed for all patients.
Journey Segments
Segmenting the patient journeys enabled the presentation of patient voices at varying levels of detail. This allows the UX team to modify their presentation based on external factors, such as familiarity with UX methodologies and time to present. The segments were fist divided by level of “resource”. In this context, resource refers to the resources patients have available to them to improve their care, such as: financial stability, primary language, zip code, and technological proficiency.
The next division of patient journeys was three key stages of a cancer journey: 1) Starting out – where patients receive their pre diagnosis and become Dana-Farber patients, 2) At Dana-Farber – an overview of patients receiving care at Dana-Farber, and 3) Leaving Dana-Farber – this is where patients are leaving the support system of the institution.
Under Resourced Patients
Starting Out Rosa Lacking attention At Dana-Farber Maya Wanting support Leaving Dana-Farber Linda Maintaining connections
Resourced Patients
Starting Out Sarah Seeking answers At Dana-Farber Abby Losing control Leaving Dana-Farber Olivia Missing support
Please click through each persona and their journey below (Order: Rosa, Sarah, Maya, Abby, Linda, Olivia)