Transforming Patient Experience through Human-Centered Design for a Leading Cancer Center's New Hospital

Challenge

Our client, a leading cancer treatment center, was planning a significant hospital expansion that would more than double its capacity. While the center primarily conducted outpatient procedures, this expansion marked a strategic shift toward more comprehensive inpatient care.

Despite previous work with other consulting firms that had developed basic outpatient personas, our client lacked insight into the unique needs of inpatient cancer patients who would remain in its new facility for extended periods following surgeries and complex procedures. The center needed to answer these key questions: 

• How do cancer patients experience extended inpatient treatments?
• What technological and emotional support would most significantly improve their experience?
• How could the new hospital design address patients' holistic needs beyond medical treatment?

These challenges demanded a fresh, human-centered approach to patient research — one that would go beyond traditional methodologies and truly center the patient's perspective in the design process.

Our approach

Drawing on our extensive experience working with other leading healthcare organizations, we launched a multi-phase approach to help our client better understand its patients and deliver the best care. 

Mindset mapping

We initiated our research by hosting a collaborative journey mapping session with stakeholders across nursing, oncology, administrative staff and support services. This critical first step allowed us to develop a comprehensive view of the patient experience from the institution's perspective. By capturing both organizational insights and potential patient touchpoints, we created a preliminary framework that we could then test, challenge, refine and validate directly with patients.  

Research

We then launched our patient accelerator methodology to capture deep, nuanced patient insights through a multi-stage research process. This process involved conducting diary studies and qualitative research with cancer patients. Participants utilized a digital platform to share their experiences asynchronously, allowing them to contribute at their convenience. This resulted in rich insights into patients' experiences, needs and pain points.

Persona development

Equipped with firsthand insights, we created mindset-based personas that tracked inpatient perspectives across different treatment stages, from initial diagnosis to active treatment to remission. For example, "Edward" was a patient persona transferring from another cancer center who approached each interaction with a comparative and critical eye, evaluating everything from parking to treatment protocols against his previous experience. We went beyond traditional demographics to reveal intricate details about patients' digital interactions, emotional states and practical challenges.

Innovation sprints

Building upon our insights and mindset mapping, we launched an intensive five-day "innovation sprint" that transformed patient feedback into actionable design concepts. The sprint brought together the same patients and caregivers who participated in our initial research, creating a collaborative environment of continuous insight generation.

On the first day, we facilitated ideation sessions, during which participants openly shared their vision for an ideal hospital experience. The group brainstormed concepts ranging from technological solutions to physical space design. 

The second and third days were spent rapidly developing prototypes based on these initial concepts. We generated approximately 20 distinct prototypes in areas such as patient communication technologies, family support spaces and treatment environment innovations. 

The fourth and fifth days became critical validation days, in which we presented these prototypes back to the original participant group. This approach allowed for immediate, direct feedback and often surprising shifts in perception. For example, voice assistance technologies ranked high by patients, specifically those who are unable to physically move or interact with traditional interfaces, despite typical healthcare technology studies showing otherwise. This insight represented a potential breakthrough in patient room design and technological integration.

Gathering feedback on solutions that were not only innovative and appealing to patients but also practical and valuable provided our client with a solid foundation for making informed technology decisions that would reimagine the patient experience in meaningful ways.

What's next: The omnichannel patient experience

Our client successfully opened its new inpatient hospital, guided by the personas and innovation sprint prototypes we created to inform key design decisions. What began as a focus on physical space evolved into a strategic reimagining of the entire patient experience. Our human-centered research uncovered the complexity of the digital landscape patients face, leading the cancer center to pursue a seamless, omnichannel approach that connects every touchpoint — from diagnosis through treatment and beyond.

This work highlights the transformative impact of understanding patient perspectives. By considering the full journey — not just clinical moments — healthcare organizations can design more integrated, compassionate models of care that truly support patients at every stage.