Team
RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATION
Punasa (Bee) Sihsobhon, Celine Isaacs, Chen (Chloe) Wang, Madeline Cote, Makenna Leese
INTERIOR DESIGN
Bianka Pineda
ARCHITECTURE
Chandler Adams, Christina Hand, Morgan Cleek, Nicolas Barrera, Sophia Rodriguez, Warda Zaidi
Cancer Care Center
Internal Internship with Mobile Infirmary
Duration
10 weeks
Due to the Non-disclosure agreement of the project, please email Punasa Sihsobhon to access the final design and process.
The Problem
The current cancer care center at Mobile Infirmary is a small temporary unit within the Imaging and radiology ward. There is a demand for more space, more privacy, and spatial management that aids intuitive navigation. The Infirmary staffs also want to ensure the sense of safety and empathy for their cancer patients.
Advisors
Louis Baker
Scott Singeisen
My Roles
UX Researcher and Strategist
Conducted qualitative research through interviews with the stakeholders in Mobile Infirmary ecosystem and scope the project, built user journey, set design priorities, and crafted the design criterion.
Visual Designer
Crafted the visual branding guide that aids empathy with the locality of Mobile Infirmary and design cancer care package for the patient from ideation to production.
Resource Manager
Bridged the communication between the teams and the advisor. Outsourced printing services for the prototype production.
Tool
Interviews
Surveys
Contextual Inquiry
Miro
Slack
Dropbox
Persona
User Journey
MoSCoW method
Google Workspace
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe After Effect
Key Takeaways
Stakeholder Expectation Management
This involvement of all entities within the ecosystem can help manage their expectation and align their value across departments.
Tackle Scope Creeps With Data
Utilized the collected primary research to build a design scope for the team and weave the data in a storytelling approach to connect to the audience. It also saved the team from a scope creep that shows up during the last two weeks of the process.
Multidisciplinary Team Environment
Learned about the architecture and interior design practices to gather appropriate data and communicate with the client on the project scope.
Research
Our team's primary research focused on the contextual inquiry, surveys, and in-depth interviews of cancer patients and staff members. We also conducted extensive secondary research on innovations in cancer treatment and care so that we understood the elements necessary to providing a positive experience for both patients and staff.
Design
In the design phase we created the metaphoric concept of the creation of a pearl. It is analogous with a cancer patient seeking care and comfort at the cancer center. Our deliveries include: the architectural design, the interior design, the cancer care package, the physical model, and a promotional video.
The Big Question
How can we improve the spatial experience of both the cancer patients and healthcare workers?
First Encounter,
First Challenge
About our partner
Mobile Infirmary we are collaborating with is a hospital based in Mobile, Alabama. They provide holistic treatment and would like to emphasize their cancer care treatment through the creation of the cancer care building as "the face of Mobile Infirmary".
What seems to be an issue?
From our 1 day contextual inquiry at Mobile Infirmary, the team had an opportunity to speak with the president, the vice president, the lead architect, and a few nurses about the cancer care treatment. There were issue with the lack of system and space for it was built as a temporary unit.
After the exploration:
Mobile Infirmary and Mobile, Alabama
From the contextual inquiry, our team had developed four big ideas concerning the hospital campus in relationship to the surrounding terrain.
Delineate Public and Private
Establishing a threshold between public and private section of the campus can reduce the lack of clarity in campus sectioning and prevent the patients from venturing into the staff parking lot at the back.
Redirect Primary Circulation
Redirecting the traffic circulation to improve the flow and make sure the patients get to their designations safely.
Prioritizing pedestrian
Emphasizes the pedestrian mall to encourage a safer and more relaxing path to walk rather than through the parking lot.
Connection to community
The Three Mile Creek Greenway Trail community amenity led by the City of Mobile is working on extending the trail path to increase greenery of the landscape. The team advised the hospital to collaborate to this project in promoting health and relaxation on the campus.
Our master plan
We initially created 3 master plans, exploring whether the cancer center should be attached to the existing hospital or be a free-standing building. There is the fourth option, which is to demolish the parking lot in front of the hospital. Despite the maximization of frontage and traffic flow, it is costly and time consuming considering the partner is a non-profit organization. The team decided not to include it in the first meeting proposal.
Attached to the hospital
This centralized scheme promote accessibility to the parking lot through a direct entrance from the parking. The parking, however, would be minimized unless adding a parking deck. The team proposed its connection to the ER in case of emergencies, the patients can quickly enters the ER from the infusion bay.
Detached, close to the hospital
The scheme allows clear frontage and reduces confusion in navigating the campus through the direct driveway from the Mobile Infirmary Boulevard (main street) and the pedestrian green mall. Despite being detaches, it is closer to the main hospital and supports easy patient transfer. The team also propose a short-term housing option for extended stays.
Detached, close to Springhill Avenue
This scheme allows maximum frontage of the cancer care center to Springhill Avenue and opens the space for a communal event. Due to the proximity to the main road, it requires another layer of threshold to ensure privacy.
Your voices reached us.
Hearing the anecdotes of the staffs and patients, we gained more insights on the exact challenges they faced within the space. Here are some highlighted data points we gathered.
"Anybody who comes through that door doesn't want to come through that or no one wants to be in here (infusion room). And so we're here for them, just to make it a little better for them."
"...there's a little space between each patient right now."
"it's really convenient for us (radiation oncology nurses and radiation therapist) that we have everybody here (at the nurse's station) in one area"
"...currently our cancer program is. It's kind of scattered... the infusion center and the Mediation Center. They are located about half a mile away"
"And the space has to have adequate number of sorts of meeting spaces where these people (pharmacist, nutritionist, social worker, radiation therapist) can meet with the patient"
Here comes
the Scope Creeps.
Prioritizing tasks
Based on the MoSCoW method, we realized that the team has design a specialized breast cancer center, a conference and research area in addition to the cancer center facility.
Researcher Note: To reduce confusion of the architecture and interior design teams, the researchers cut "Could have" and "Will Not Have" categories out of the final reviews.
Spacial Design
Privacy
Comfort
Navigation
Prioritizing the needs of the healthcare staffs and the cancer patients, the research and communication team created the design criterion and sent all the relevant data point to the architecture and interior design teams.
Our concept
But why the pearl?
During the contextual inquiry, the team discovered the oyster statue from a local artists and further research on Mobile identity. The research team also picked up on the appreciation the local has to the beach. By paying homage to the local, we ensure the building was truly created for and belongs to the community.
Cancer
Care
Like a grain of sand in an oyster shell, a cancer diagnosis is the beginning of a life-changing experience.
The cancer patient, upon diagnosis, seeks excellent care in an environment that provides hope and encouragement.
Comfort
An oyster responds to irritation. A cancer patient must receive layers of care and comfort.
Connections
Like a pearl, superb cancer care and its life long connection are greatly appreciated and highly valued.
Visual Reference
Water, Pearl, and the care at Mobile
To ensure visual cohesiveness, the research team created mood board based on the concept and design criterion to reinforce the experience of the user within the space.
The plan changed.
Revised master plan
After the first meeting with Mobile Infirmary, they agreed with the team about the benefits that would come with the attached option. Mobile Infirmary proposed another master plan previously commissioned, our plan includes deconstructing the parking lot, and building the cancer center in close proximity to the main hospital. The program also includes a breast center, research center, laboratory and pharmacy.
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See what goes inside this 100,000 sq. ft. building.
Estimation from existed cancer centers
Using the existing facilities and other cancer centers across the US, we estimated the State of Art equipment and the spaces essential to the operation. Here's an excerpt from our research and experimentation of the space.
The current facility floor plan displays the chaotic and scattered facility as the cancer care center was built as a temporary unit.
Here you can see the raw and usual chaos in the research data gathering.
There will be an additional space for patient or hospital event as well as the auditorium for holding research conferences.
The current facility floor plan displays the chaotic and scattered facility as the cancer care center was built as a temporary unit.
What got their place inside the building?
The final list
The interior design team determined their programming based on the competitor case studies and scholarly articles as well as the design criterion then listed the programming of the space.
Spacial Visualization
To ensure a clear understanding of the space, the graphic below depicts the general square footage which would be allocated for essential components in providing care. Each element is shown to scale.
A reception inside of a waiting room
The spacious reception area allows nurses more work space to record and complete their tasks.
A waiting room inside of radiology scanning room
To organize the imaging system, 4 radiology scanning rooms are placed within the overall space.
An examination room inside of a waiting room.
The examination room is large enough for doctors to conduct multidisciplinary discussions with colleagues and patients.
A radiology scanning room inside of Mobile Infirmary Cancer Care Center
The size of the radiology scanning rooms are comparable to the Mobile Infirmary Cancer Care Center.
Site plan
The shape of the building
After rounds of editing and collaborating, our team is proud introduce you to Mobile Infirmary's new comprehensive cancer center. As seen in the site plan, the cancer care center sits right in front of the main hospital, providing the building with a new, modern facade. Featured in the 100,000-square-foot building is an improved drop-off experience, a connection to the existing hospital via an enclosed pedestrian bridge, a shared entrance between the cancer center and the breast center, comfort-focused treatment for therapy and maximized parking.
Building Section
A generic idea of what goes where.
The images on the top depict the section of each floor of the building looking west, and the bottom, looking east. On the garden (ground) floor are the main cancer treatment facilities. On the first floor are the breast center and main lobby area. The second floor is home to doctors' offices and wellness space. The third floor houses the research department. The auditorium is extends from the third to the fourth floor. The design also provides event space on the fourth floor.
Section looking west
Section looking east
The cancer care center (wooden structure on the left) locates with a full frontage of the campus with the parking deck (wooden structure on the right).
The facade of the cancer care center symbolizes the protective oyster shell developed from the concept. It offers enough privacy to the patient without obscuring the natural light from the outside.
The cancer care center (wooden structure on the left) locates with a full frontage of the campus with the parking deck (wooden structure on the right).
Bring it to life.
The physical model
The architecture team built a model showcasing Mobile Infirmary's new cancer center within their existing campus. It adds frontage to the hospital and acts as a beacon of light when driving toward the campus on Mobile Infirmary Boulevard.
A cancer care center that is not just a building.
We heard you.
The Cancer Care Package is included to the design as a surprise. The research found out that there is not supporting material for the patients during their long waiting time and infusion session despite a low temperature of the building. The package features an oyster and pearl theme. Oysters are ubiquitous in the area. Like a pearl, superb cancer care is greatly appreciated and highly valued. The package includes comforting items that provide a warm welcome for patients such as a blanket, water bottle, bracelet, pillow and T-shirt.
