Project Description
Client: Boston Children’s Hospital
The Challenge:
Design a better visitor experience for kids coming to the Radiology Department.
The Outcome:
Kids were less fearful (and some even enjoyed) the new travel adventure experience.
A Design Transformation
The Radiology Department at Boston Children’s Hospital was not an inviting place. Kids who came for scans were led into dark rooms that had to stay dim during their procedures. My job was to figure out how to make the patient experience bearable and maybe even a little fun.
Working with the staff, we recognized that the experience should start in the waiting room, and create a sense of anticipation. We created a travel theme, and the waiting room was filled with travel postcards promoting the different ‘destinations’. The design included a passport that kids could stamp in whatever ‘destination’ exam room they visited.
Once the hospital approved the initial sketches, I managed the production of the graphic design, and painted the final images. We picked kid-friendly animals and iconic destinations, and used prodigious amounts of glitter – anything to brighten up the somber exam rooms. The end result was a transformative experience.
We had been here before and my son was scared to come back. But this experience was so different. He’s excited to see what the other rooms are like and was completely distracted by the fun images around the room.
