Nursing in Mixed Reality

Microsoft HoloLens Adapting Solutions
for Hospitals and Healthcare Industry

Overview

UX Researcher | Healthcare

Amsterdam University Medical Center

Led qualitative research with 25+ clinical staff, mapped user needs and workflows, and created personas and training materials. Delivered strategic recommendations for integrating AR tools into clinical training.

September 2021 - November 2021

Objectives

Investigating the use of Microsoft HoloLens in the hospital setting.
An attempt to augment the realities of healthcare professionals with cutting-edge technology in order to improve the nurses' experience.

Philips and Microsoft collaboration for augmented reality conceptimage from vascularnews.com

Research and Design Steps

Empathize: Understanding Users

Conducted an extensive literature review.
Conducted first-hand user research among nursing staff through interviews, observations, and surveys.
Developed a persona, "Clara," encapsulating the needs and aspirations of the nursing staff.

Key Insight: Nurses accept an innovation that aligns with their workflow and reduces cognitive load.

Define: Scoping Problem and Solution Space

Identified 4 pillars to base the solution to the problem of "introducing new technology".

1. Show nurses the potential:

It is important to find a way to show nurses what the HoloLens is, and what it can do.

A way to attract nurses and people who know nothing about HoloLens is desired.

To bring technology to people who don’t know what it can do, we are focusing on sparking joy to create attraction to the HoloLens.

3. Find purpose without adding workload:

Nurses currently have no time and no cognitive space to do any extra work.

While the HoloLens can help them with this, the introduction of this technology should not increase stress.

2. Let nurses find new application areas too:

Considering time span, nurses are now the experts that can translate functionality into what the HoloLens can mean for their patient groups.

They might need some help with idea generation or a Kickstarter.

4. Improving healthcare/working environment:

In the end, the aim is to improve healthcare and the working environment.

It is important to monitor the development process to work towards this, without compromising this environment (too much) during development.

Ideate: Generating Concept

To find a way to introduce new technology to nurses who don’t know what HoloLens technology is and how it works, the proposed idea is rooted in the philosophy that experiential learning is the foundation of innovation.

This concept is about finding a way to spark joy and inspiration for target users.

It aims to help nurses believe in the technology
by providing a comfortable example experience.

Experiential learning is the foundation of innovation.

The experience is based on 2 pillars:

Teach

We want nurses to experience learning a skill themselves. This will help us understand the didactic qualities of the HoloLens and find a way to explore its features. Since nurses don’t have a lot of time. This tutorial is based on a coffee-making tutorial, to be fitted into a lunch break or after the work shift.

Discuss
Then, the nurses should be allowed to freely discuss their experience with colleagues and others to slowly start the idea generation, that goes beyond the moment of the first experience. The freedom to talk, write down, and explore ideas is the core of this proposal.

An example of such a tutorial can be found here:

Empowering Through Experience

With the coffee machine example, we try to tackle 2 gaps:

To help nurses experience learning something new, they should learn something new themselves. Showing them a medical tutorial they would use for their patients teaches them nothing new, but a new coffee machine and its use is more unfamiliar to the nurses. The tutorial teaches something and the nurses can see the benefits (and limitations).
A more comfortable context to try out new things. In the coffee context, the pressure of doing something wrong is lower. Since this is the first time using the HoloLens the comfort of a non-stressful situation allows for cognitive space for idea generation.

Product Strategy

Transforming Perceptions and Practices

The initiative aims for nurses to move from skepticism to active advocacy, conceptualizing new applications for patient interaction and care. From telemedicine to 3D procedural guidance, the technology's potential began to unfold through the very hands it was designed to assist.

Experiencing = Believing

Reflection: Design and Empathy

This project shows the importance of human-centered design in healthcare.

Empathy: Understanding the user shapes technology into a tool that serves, not overwhelms.
Simplifying Technology: Making the complex technology accessible.
Co-Creation: Engaging end-users in the creative process invests them in its success.