Sponsored by
At-home pre-surgery education for children facing surgical procedures.
*All Illustrations done by Valerie Ng
Designed by
Hope Raker
Meredith Renaud
Valerie Ng
Table of Contents
Project Overview
1
Concept Building
4
2
How It Works
3
Background Research
5
Prototyping & Testing
6
Final Prototype Building
Project Overview
Project Focus
How can we better prepare children for surgery through education?
A kit containing common medical equipment that interacts with an egg that hatches in the hospital.
The steps of caring for the egg are done at home and help educate and normalize scary medical equipment before their surgery.
Product Concept
Project Overview Video
*Edited by Hope Rakers and I; last 37s edited by Valerie Ng
Stethoscope
Anesthesia Mask
IV Drip
Optical Fiber Patterns
The Egg
Smart kit, dumb egg, for ease of hatching and prevent the interference with the actual medical equipment.
The magic of the egg is done using optical fibers.
The Bag
Easily transportable. Child-sized to give the child a sense of control over the kit.
Fun looking and dragon-themed.
The Cards
Educating children through fun storyboards. Facilitates free play.
The cards are sized 5” by 7”, perfect for children hands and eyes.
The Equipment
Mimics the interactions and functions of common medical equipment visually and audibly. LED lights up when equipment is joined correctly.
Normalizing the unfamiliar, combating fear.
IV Drip
Anesthesia Mask
Stethoscope
The App
Builds bond between child and dragon through AR. Educates parents with direct communication with hospital. Facilitates guided play between parent and child.
*Note: due to this project only being a 10 week project, we decided to focus more on the equipment kit than the app. The app is still a concept and has not been fully developed.
Product Components
*Crafted by Hope Rakers and I
*Crafted by Hope Rakers
*Crafted by Valerie Ng
*Crafted by Hope Rakers and I (Coded by Meredith Renaud)
How it Works
Child and guardian go to the initial doctor’s visit.
Child picks out doctor kit color after the initial appointment.
Child and guardian leave initial appointment with the chosen kit.
Once home, child opens the kit to find an egg, medical equipment, and instructional cards.
Using the app, the child and guardian can check on the egg to see what is wrong.
The child uses the medical equipment in the kit to doctor the egg.
Using the app, the child and guardian can check on the egg again. The child discovers that their actions helped the egg.
The child can use the cards to see how to interact with the egg and learn more about the equipment.
The child and guardian return to the hospital on the day of the surgery with the doctor’s kit and egg.
The child places the egg in a special base and waits for the egg to hatch in the pre-op room.
The egg hatches to reveal a stuffed dragon that the child can hold during the rest of the procedure.
The child leaves the hospital healthy after surgery with their stuffed dragon.
Background Research
User Personas
Grizz | 8 | Long-term child patient
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Diagnosed with diabetes at age 6
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Familiar with hospital
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Dislikes the cold and clinical hospital environment
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Dreads returning to the hospital for medical visits
Paddington | 7 | First-time child patient
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Diagnosed with tonsillitis
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Confused and frightened
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First time in the hospital
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Separated from worried parents,
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Surgery is a source of anxiety
The Pawfoots | 35 | The Anxious Parents
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Facing stress and anxiety
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Uncertain about surgery outcome for their child
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Separated from their child
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Seeking updates on their child's condition
Dr. Braveheart | 40 | Busy healthcare worker
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Dedicated healthcare worker, faces workload stress.
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He seeks solutions to streamline tasks for better patient care.
Emotions of Children Pre-Surgery
Surgery can be a traumatic experience for children, especially because they may not fully understand what is happening to them. By educating them about the process and what to expect before, during, and after surgery, they can feel more empowered and in control of their situation.
Pressure
Despite her parents’ best interests, she went through emotional stress and pressure from them to “get through it”.
No Control
During this period of time, she felt like she had no control over her body or the situation.
Anticipation
During the wait for the surgery, she was terrified.
Confusion
She does not understand the equipment or what they do, so everything is much more scary and painful to her.
Paddington's Story
Monster at Every Turn
Paddington is scared of the unknown, making everything even more terrifying for her since the hospital is unfamiliar to her.
Opportunities
Education Pre-Surgery
While there are child- life therapists like Ashley to educate children in the hospital, but she is only one person, and can only do so much.
Medical Play
It would be wonderful to have more education before going to the hospital.
"
"
Ashley McGee, Child-Life Therapist
Medical Play is a great teaching method that helps children understand the process to lessen their fears
1. Teach children about their surgery through play
2. Allow children to play “doctor” to better understand their experience and how they view their situation
Ms. Martin, Child-Life Therapist
"
Play is how children communicate, understand their surroundings, and express themselves.
"
*All illustration done by Valerie Ng
Research group-effort
Concept Building
Concepts
*Group Effort
Brainstorming
*All by me
"Hatch your buddy", "Wellness Surprise Gift Box", and "Educational Treasure Box At Home" have been chose by the team to combine for out product concept.
A kit containing common medical equipment that interacts with an egg that hatches in the hospital.
The steps of caring for the egg are done at home and help educate and normalize scary medical equipment before their surgery.
Product Concept
Prototyping & Testing
Goals - Magical Experience
"Dumb" Egg
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Avoids electronics and on the egg itself that might interfere with medical equipment.
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More robust & allow hatching
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Cheaper for manufacturing
"Smart" Equipment
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Every piece of equipment should have a tangible effect on the egg
Magic of the Egg
Optical Fiber - Side Emitting
Used as a means to contain and transmit light over short or long distances.
Why?
Avoids electronics on the egg and creates magical experience through illumination
Stethoscope
IV Drip
Anesthesia Mask
Initial Prototype
User Testing
Testing Setup
A user enters the room and sees abstracted versions of each piece of equipment along with informational cards. They are encouraged to play with the equipment and speak their thoughts aloud. They were also interviewed after the testing about their experience.
User Feedback
Egg
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6/7 of the users wanted more feedback from the egg (sound, light changes, etc.)
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Could do a more intricate pattern
The slots to fit things in should stand out more from the pattern (it's not immediately obvious right now) -
Different LED colors (clear up connections confusion)
Medical Equipment
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One of the most common feedback was that the interactions were too similar for the LEDs despite having 3 objects with 3 completely different interactions.
Cards
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Cards only tell how to interact with egg, not how it interacts in real life (storyboard on egg)
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Make it clear that the egg will hatch (at the hospital)
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Cards are a little too wordy and reading them too much takes away from the experience.
Hypothesis
If we use optical fibers to create connections between medical equipment and the egg, then the interactions will feel magical and encourage play.
Data Collection
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Time it takes to find intended interaction
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Number of "incorrect" tires
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General observation
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Subject feedback from interaction
Questions:
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Do users know where the equipment goes on the egg?
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Ex. putting the mask on where it should be
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Do users understand how each artifact works?
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Ex. the mask makes them fall asleep
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Does the interaction and responses make sense?