Beautiful Artefacts, Beautiful Organisations / Marion Desclaux, Denis Pellerin / Intersection 20

Marion Desclaux and Denis Pellerin
Strategic Service Designer and Design Director
User Studio

In 2019, we were commissioned to redesign the 1700 m2 emergency ward of Cholet’s public hospital. The ER staff was on strike at a national level.

The French rural care system has gone through many changes — increasing number of patients, growth of ageing population, shrunk of local doctors, cost reductions — pressuring both patients and medical staff. In such a context, the hospital has been granted 2 million euros by ARS (Region Care Department). The hospital direction needed a pragmatic approach to bring together and reassure all the stakeholders, with short-term, reachable solutions. The Enterprise Design dialogue

Fortunately, unlike the general situation at hospital, nurses, administration and medical staff of the ER had a good relationship, so to tackle emergencies.

For a year, we worked with 20 staff members (out of 100), at every step of the process. The scope evolution

Our user-oriented approach aims to take care of people all the journey long. We are dedicated to making beautiful things happen for real.

As we tested 1:1 prototypes, we deliberately tackled issues from a patients’ perspective, and thanks to this additional view, we built trust and respect and were allowed to question critical organisational aspects of the service such as the historic division of the ER practice, admissions staff management, or the night entrance of the hospital. Outcomes

More than creating a pleasant ER environment, the team has a common understanding of the constraints and the opportunities. Thanks to the vision they share, they are now powerful ambassadors of the project to make changes on a daily basis.

But more than relevant ideas, the beauty of the prototypes fosters a desire for this future and help them be understanding during the heavy works.