Facilitating User Driven Innovation – A Study of Methods and Tools at Herlev Hospital

Purpose: To present the preliminary research results of user driven innovation methods at healthcare facilities and their relevance to research and practice. Background/Approach: The paper is based on a case study conducted at the Gynaecologic Department at Herlev Hospital as part of Healthcare Innovation Lab, which is a public-private collaboration project testing the simulation and user-driven innovation between users and companies at Hospitals in the Danish Capital Region. The theories presented are user driven innovation, usability and boundary objects. Results: This article presents different methods used in planning of new hospital facilities and the experiences with using them in practice to improve usability of the built environment. The study focuses on the initial stages of the design processes, specially ‘user driven innovation’ – the participatory design process in which users are actively involved as co-creators. The paper describes the process and its phases, as well as reflects on the results of the user involvement and specific methods. Depending on the methods used at the workshops the participants/users had different focus, changed the priorities and developed different solutions. Practical Implications: Advice on process and use of boundary objects for future workshops with user groups