What we delivered
A framework to help Southern Cross decide on technical investments in the future, well beyond this project.
Empowering Southern Cross staff to carry out research on their own to inform design and technical approaches.
Making nurses’ working lives easier through recommendations for a sustainable, effective technical choice.
Saved Southern Cross money by solving issues with simple technical solutions, realised through getting to know nurses and their environments well.
— Trevor Delany, Chief Digital Officer, Southern Cross Healthcare
How can technology help nurses do their amazing work?
In a complex environment, Southern Cross’s nurses were using a wide variety of technical devices to manage many different tasks. Southern Cross wanted to make it easier for nurses to use devices to support their mahi by choosing a single device to do most of the tasks needed. Their goal was simple: to have technology help, not hinder, the amazing work their nurses were already doing.
‘Falling in love with the problem’ so we can recommend a sustainable solution
Any technical solution needs to be sustainable, enabling Southern Cross to manage their devices for long-term use and value. Before jumping to a solution on an expensive tech upgrade, we worked closely with the Southern Cross team to help them ‘fall in love with the problem’ through a human-centred design process.
We wanted to support their decision making, but also educate Southern Cross’s team on the value of human-centred design. Designing the project approach with the team and working side-by-side equipped them with human-centred design and technical know-how they could re-use for future decisions.
From scrub pockets to prescriptions, we wanted to understand nurses’ experience
How nurses use the systems and devices is just as important as the devices themselves, so considering the physical and digital user experience (UX) was crucial.
Over a period of two weeks, we gathered numerous insights directly from nurses via a quick, accessible survey. This survey was invaluable as it helped us find the most interesting use cases, and best people to interview.
In depth interviews, hospital tours, and device demonstrations offered our team a first person perspective into the nurses’ experiences. We even measured their scrub pockets!
Rather than simply recommending the latest device, we needed to ensure our recommendation played nice with existing systems at the hospital. We conducted an assessment of their technical landscape – what were the key systems and platforms in use, and how did they interact?
Long-term solutions based on human needs and technical considerations
Equipped with a treasure trove of knowledge, we then designed a score-based framework that allowed us to measure the suitability of any device. We purposefully upweighted human considerations alongside our existing technology ones to give us our decision-making criteria.
This gave us a score for each device in-market, allowing us to identify and recommend the device most suited to Southern Cross’ unique needs.
The devices in-market change from year to year, whereas system-wide tech changes are much slower, and human behaviour is even slower to change. This score-based framework will help Southern Cross to decide on technical investments well into the future, long beyond this single engagement.
When we shared our final device recommendation, Southern Cross was totally sold on it, because they had been our partners every step of the way.
Real savings through thoughtful observations
Along with the project’s primary focus, our research delivered unforeseen benefits, such as immediately saving Southern Cross money. For example we quickly brought $15,000 unused piece of equipment back to life by a $50 off-the-shelf keyboard. With every hospital visit, we found unexpected issues that were easily solved with simple solutions. We love adding value through those serendipitous observations that happen when we take the time to really get to know the people we’re working with and for.
— Trevor Delany, Chief Digital Officer, Southern Cross Healthcare