Design Insights

Want to deliver a better patient experience? Start by mapping the patient journey. Here's how to do it.

I just spent six months researching experiential brand language for a client. Here's what it is, how to create it, and examples of great EBLs from Apple, Airbnb, REI, and, as the title promises, Taylor Swift.

A multidisciplinary team has the edge in creating innovative, well-rounded solutions that meet the needs of all stakeholders.

To understand the critical importance of user experience (UX) research and strategy for businesses, it can be helpful to look at real-world examples.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe,” Abraham Lincoln is supposed to have said. At Delve, research is like sharpening the axe.

Only about 19% of professional industrial designers in the United States are women.

Companies tend to become less agile and innovative as they grow. This outcome is so common that it feels inevitable. Good news: It isn’t.

Designers have a responsibility to design a world that all want to live in. Here are three principles that can help us navigate the complexities of design decision-making and truly achieve design success.

Speculative design requires people to suspend their disbelief and allow their imaginations to wander. Here's one tool to ground it in reality.

What comes before and after you walk in your users' shoes? We distill empathic design into six principles for easy adoption.

There’s a growing sense of urgency and renewed purpose in the design community.

Too many times design thinking projects fall victim to the trappings of innovation theater. Here's how not to let that happen.

If your home is your castle, during the pandemic it’s also your office, classroom, coffee shop/restaurant/bar, gym, entertainment venue, spa, and, yeah, that place where you sleep.

Here’s a mind-blowing set of statistics for you: prior to 2020, only 24 percent of healthcare systems offered any form of virtual care.

In early 2020, Abbott Laboratories recognized the need for COVID-19 testing and used their massive resources to ramp up production quickly.

In the spring of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to work apart, Delve’s leadership launched an internal pitch competition.

Since Covid, "water cooler" chats at Delve's three offices are now largely happening on Microsoft Teams, where we're sharing what we're reading and listening to with each other. We're compiling some of the best nuggets into what we're calling an "Inspiration Index," that we'll share on a regular basis. We hope you discover something that will inspire - or at least intrigue - you.

Since Covid, "water cooler" chats at Delve's three offices are now largely happening on Microsoft Teams, where we're sharing what we're reading and listening to with each other. We're compiling some of the best nuggets into what we're calling an "Inspiration Index," that we'll share on a bi-weekly basis. We hope you discover something that will inspire - or at least intrigue - you.

Ami Verhalen, Vice President of Design, and Stefanie Norvaisas, Vice President of Insights and Strategy will be presenting a workshop called "Decision Making and Bias: Your Role in the Design Process and How to Manage It" during the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) Women in Design Deep Dive. The virtual event will be held October 6-7.Here's a description of their workshop: "Decision making can be treacherous, particularly in design where selecting options can feel subjective, emotional, and risky. As women design leaders, we’ve been in the places where decisions are being made for over 20 years. We’ve realized that as tough as it was to get a seat at the table that’s not enough—as leaders we need to shepherd our teams to decisions they can feel good about. Born out of our experiences and frustration with the lack of process around decision making, we studied its mechanisms and learned how physical, cognitive, social, and cultural biases affect it. We developed a process that helped us find our voice and enable decisions that stick. In this presentation, we will share lessons we’ve learned as well as tools and methods that will help you effectively design the decision-making process. You will receive a copy of our workbook, “Designing Good Decisions,” to help you take the lessons from our presentation and apply them on the job."IDSA is committed to making this event affordable and accessible to everyone. The event has a "choose your rate" ticket that ranges from $25 to $100, so make sure to reserve your spot.

Since Covid, "water cooler" chats at Delve's three offices are now largely happening on Microsoft Teams, where we're sharing what we're reading and listening to with each other. We're compiling some of the best nuggets into what we're calling an "Inspiration Index," that we'll share on a bi-weekly basis. We hope you discover something that will inspire - or at least intrigue - you.

I had a manager who gave me the book “Feedback is a Gift.” At the time, it didn’t feel like much of a gift – mostly because her method for feedback was, well, constant. But her heart was in the right place.

A lot of in-person research has been put on hold and will likely remain this way for the foreseeable future as we continue to navigate the pandemic. While some products and projects might still require in-person studies, remote studies can provide the necessary answers and insights for many. Thanks to a lot of great tools for remote collaboration and testing, product development and research sprints don’t have to stop.

STEEPLE analysis is a tool for scanning your external environment. It helps teams understand phenomena and imagine new opportunities.

For our Delve Talks podcast, Dave Franchino and I had the opportunity to interview a dozen people from various industries, all of whom share a common interest, desire and occupation that involves innovation, creativity and culture building. You can find the whole series here.

For our Delve Talks podcast, Dave Franchino and I had the opportunity to interview a dozen people from various industries, all of whom share a common interest, desire and occupation that involves innovation, creativity, and culture building. You can find the whole series here

The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) held its first Deep Dive on sustainable product design. The ensuing conversations revealed a burning need for collaboration between not just designers, but everyone involved in the creation and use of products.

As my beloved country seethes in turmoil over the horrible and unjust killing of George Floyd, I - like everyone I know - have struggled to make sense of a senseless situation, and formulate some sort of coherent comments.

(Any Day But) Tuesday… If it was Tuesday, you could guarantee there was no electricity. You couldn’t iron your clothes, watch TV or turn on the lights. You’d do anything to have a portable fan blast air on your face on a crushing summer afternoon, but you couldn’t.

While we're all working in our homes, we thought it would be fun to check in with our team members to see how they're doing and what their new offices and co-workers look like.

While we're all working in our homes, we thought it would be fun to check in with our team members to see how they're doing and what their new offices and co-workers look like.

To say we’re living in turbulent times right now is an understatement. I won’t belabor repeating the news or all the facets of uncertainty. With that, I write this hoping all who read it are as safe and healthy as can be and that you are finding things to be grateful for even when that seems impossible.

When in-person research needs to shift, try these remote research methods. All have yielded great insights for us at various stages of product design.

Since we posted a blog post talking about how the Open Source Face Shield project had started to supply the University of Wisconsin hospitals with this critical personal protection equipment (PPE), our team has had little time to breathe.

Generating good ideas is usually not the problem. The process of choosing one good idea and getting it through your organization is usually the hard part.

The Consumer Electronics Show always starts the new year off with a bang. It packs roughly 170,000 extra people from around the world into Las Vegas for a seizure-inducing week of stimulation.

Apparently, unicorns just went extinct in Silicon Valley. That’s sad news for the small group of tech entrepreneurs who hope to cash in on the latest gold rush and build a company with a $1 billion-plus valuation.

Our team spent the second day of CES at Tech West, home base for health, wellness, home, wearable and fitness technology. It's also the hub for Eureka Park, where the scrappy startups vie for attention of venture capitalists and potential partners.

Two separate semesters, two office locations, and two roles later, my experiences at Delve could not have been more diverse or outstanding.

As I started to think about writing this blog, I realized that it might come off more as an Andy Rooney rant than “Oprah’s favorite things” this year. It feels like there have been more misses than hits.

This article is part two of a series about the advantages of an improvisation (improv) mindset on workplace teams. Read part one here.

This article is part one of a two-part series about the advantages of an improvisation mindset on workplace teams.

Our free, on-demand webinar explains why innovation is so critical in healthcare, and introduces our Framework for Strategic Innovation: Health + Wellness.

As a graduate from Stanford, I participate in a fairly active “design” email list originating from the various design programs. The email list allows fellow Stanford alum to post questions or raise topics related to the broader field of innovation and is invariably a fascinating source of trends and introspection.

I recently hosted a discussion on a topic I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. Failure. Specifically, the role of failure in innovation.

Have you ever been given a physical tool to help you complete a task when what you really needed was information or support?

Planning research activities for design and innovation projects can be overwhelming at times, especially when entering a new market or segment.

For a change of pace, I thought I’d peel back the covers on the internal workings of our company and share just a bit of our cultural considerations here in Madison. If you’ve worked with or for us you know we pride ourselves on trying to create a comfortable, fun, engaging but unique culture.

We moved into our new office on 11th Street in May 2018 and although the “new car smell” may have faded, we are still enamored and eager to share it with visitors and clients. The studio has grown with the addition of Ryan Braunstein, Shiz Kobara, and Tyler Toy, a very talented triad who have infused the team with their energy and enthusiasm.

Today at SXSW we dug into the concept of place. Below is a quick look into what we saw, heard and thought.

If you want to develop empathy for anyone in the healthcare business, all you have to do is walk the floor at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference.

Medical devices are commonly recalled due to usability issues that can be prevented with proper usability testing during the development lifecycle.

A very common mantra in product development and specifically Design Thinking is to “fail early and often.”

Let’s suppose, hypothetically speaking of course, that a product exhibited at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) could be used to cause severe bodily harm with a weapon to another human.

I am fortunate to be working with a great client in the medical equipment industry within a very meaningful product category.

If you are innovating by practicing customer-centered design, it may be the reason you aren’t getting the results you need.

As we find ourselves in the middle of the holiday season, we join with our friends and family in celebrating what we have and share the joy with others by giving.

Doing user research now won't help you design for 2028. Trend analysis will. Design strategists turn to it to predict consumers' future behavior.

I’m one of those designers who is always searching for the latest technology or process to help trigger new ideas or new ways of doing things.

Most people think that the high cost of pharmaceuticals is largely driven by R&D costs.

When it comes to designing patient services for healthcare, we may have the best intentions, but sometimes we get in our own way when it comes to creating good design.

So – first a quick humorous story. I had dinner a while ago with my parents and they were asking about what’s new at work. I shared, with some excitement, that we’d decided to open an office in Boston.

Creative Matrix is a brainstorming method that helps structure the necessary "in-between" work between research and ideation. We demonstrated the technique.

I am both inspired and annoyed by the innovation stories that regularly come out of Silicon Valley.

Co-creation in the design world might take several forms, but most often it's in the form of a moderated co-workshop that brings together designers, users, and client stakeholders.

Being a professional who has managed complex projects while simultaneously raising a family and attending graduate school, I felt I was more than prepared for my latest project – finding a new home for our San Francisco team.

I have a confession to make. My co-worker Stefanie used to drive me nuts.

When I’ve said “dome of awesome” to people, they generally respond with something like, “What is it? I want it. I want to be in the dome of awesome!”

Our world is in flux. We are all aware of this. As designers, it’s helpful to step back and consider our role in shaping our rapidly emerging future.

This past summer, Design Concepts had the pleasure of working with Lincoln Elementary School on improving their makerspace and program.

As a design team, we are constantly in search of ways to stay involved with the design community and shine light on upcoming talent

In the immediate aftermath of any newsworthy accident, we often hear the words "human error" or "user error".

Psychological safety can be the difference between innovative and just OK. Here are three easy ways to build psychological safety at your organization.

There are very few things I miss about our former home at Buttonwood Drive in Madison ... except for the employees-only bathroom.

The constellation Orion contains two of the universe’s brightest stars.

The construction dust is finally starting to settle.

Addressing customer pain points is a great way to inspire design, but don’t miss opportunities to “amp up the good” by addressing the gains that users desire.

Many of our clients, from startups to multi-national medical device manufacturers, pursue patents on the products and services we help them design.

Julie Norvaisas, who is my sister (learn more about sisters in research in this blog), co-founder of Design Strategy and Research at Design Concepts, and now Director of User Experience Research (UER) at LinkedIn, joined us recently to share her perspective on how she approaches user experience research at LinkedIn.

Operation Butter is now complete.

What can you learn from dodgeball, you ask?

As I was hurtling back to San Francisco across the Rockies, the backbone of our country, after spending a couple days at the Colorado Springs Startup Week, I was struck by the changes in my profession.

I’ve been spending a lot of the time on the mat lately – the yoga mat that is – and have been finding some valuable parallels between what my yoga teachers guide me to do and how to approach a good design research practice.

Operation Butter, our code-name for building and moving to our new offices in downtown Madison, began with an announcement from our owners about a year and a half ago.

People who know me well know that I am bit of a podcast junkie.

It sounds like a cliché, but a reality of our business is that our people are our most valuable asset.

When I began the first year of my MBA program at a well-known business school, a Facebook was still a real book, printed on paper.

Many friends of Design Concepts have probably already heard that we are moving our Madison office from the suburban office park that has been our home for the last 15 years to a new building in the heart of a redeveloping corridor downtown.

I remember the first time my business partner, design strategist Stefanie Norvaisas, was critiquing a meeting presentation and challenged the presenter with “So what?” on an important slide.

It wasn't too long ago that the Lyric building was some columns and elevator shafts.

My colleague Roshelle Ritzenthaler and I recently presented at South by Southwest on “How to Give Design a Seat at the Lean Startup Table.” There was a line around the corner for our talk, which tells me this is a topic on a lot of designers' minds.

Stefanie Norvaisas and I recently returned from an amazing trip to South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, where we had the opportunity to host a workshop on Designing Decisions.

It can feel like the world is changing at lightning speed and at the same time it can feel like nothing has changed.

Listening to, observing, and truly empathizing with healthcare professionals is necessary to deliver new solutions that are user-responsive and empowering.

Making the complex simple, or ‘simplexity,’ requires diligence in both iteration (build, test, learn) and designing the system and the details equally well.

Mapping user experiences and systems can help you create more delightful healthcare experiences.

Accessible, also called assistive, designs that consider the needs of the disabled are often adopted more widely as others find new uses for them.

Have you noticed how many crowdsourcing hits fail to bridge the chasm between viral video and sellable product?

The design of products and services for the most human of needs, healthcare, has a history of being less than humane.

We undoubtedly live in a time where change is constant.

I recently returned to Design Concepts after a deeply meaningful six-month world trip with my husband and elementary school-aged daughters.

After attending the 68th American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo in Philadelphia last week, I’ve come to a realization – laboratory professionals deserve more love.

Two weeks ago, I had to do something that I don't really enjoy. No, not a visit to the dentist or cleaning the basement. I had to call customer service.

No matter what your title is, a significant part of your job is making decisions and justifying them to others.

Late last year, our leadership team at Design Concepts announced the long-in-the-making decision to relocate our Madison workplace from our current suburban office park to the rapidly developing East Washington corridor of downtown Madison.

Crafting a product, department or corporate strategy never happens in a bubble. It’s an ever-moving target because of trends in the marketplace, shifts in consumer behavior, and competitive actions.

Thanks to author Marie Kondo, many are on a “life-changing” mission to tidy up our homes and lives.

Earlier this year, I was on an amazing project that took me to both India and China to visit hospitals and clinics of all sizes and types.

Innovation is tricky business. So is working in teams.

I love the energy in the new product development space.

Designing and delivering successful connected products requires a whole new set of skills. Do you know your team's blind spots?

I was lucky enough to be selected to participate in the inaugural VergeNYC conference hosted by Parsons School of Design where the theme was “Action in the Face of Uncertainty.”

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Picture this ... You arrive at a business meeting, introduce yourself, sit down, pull out your pen to take some notes, and all of a sudden multiple people in the room start to mock you and make fun of your pen.

There’s a strategic initiative going on at Design Concepts: “Thought Leaders.” Write something. Post something. Tweet something. I’m not much for 144 character blurbs: #whydofolksavoidpersonalinteraction

Last year, I wrote a blog post about my impressions of the collective body of Super Bowl ads and what it might tell us about consumer trends.

My job takes me on the road a lot. That means I get to see a lot of cool places and meet tons of people but it also means that I have a lot of airport and airplane downtime.

I grew up in the 1970s when family dinner was all about conveniences like microwaves, canned food, frozen entrees and instant mashed potatoes. Taste … not so much.

My six-year-old daughter wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up. Given the way she can rock a Sophia the First t-shirt and disco ball silver leggings, she may have an actual shot.

“Was it you?!?” Al points at the fake political sign stuck in his garden celebrating his 89th birthday. He can’t decide if he’s annoyed or amused. Al hates birthdays and that’s too bad because he’s had a ton of them.

Do you know someone who can absorb a vast amount of complex information about a problem and combine it into a cohesive, elegant solution?

I’m not going to beat around the bush — I’ve known I was on the docket for months now and assumed that some flash of genius worthy of a blog would present itself. But life got busy going into the field for a project, attending a destination wedding in California, and starting my MBA. So instead of a nice story that reads like your favorite episode of This American Life, here’s a few thoughts on “things I’ve noticed” over the last couple months. (And if you are a TAL fan imagine Ira Glass is reading this and it will totally redeem itself!)

Medical diagnostics is where the often unwieldy, slow-moving beast of healthcare collides with mind-blowing, quickly changing advances in technology. It is the behind-the-scenes intersection where healthcare workers interact with equipment, day in and day out, in hospitals, clinics, laboratories and universities. This is where fast and accurate results may mean the difference between someone getting the correct diagnosis and treatment in time and, well, not.

A couple of weeks back I had one of those great experiences that makes this job absolutely unbeatable. We had the chance to visit a client who is wrapping up final testing on the prototype of a product on which we collaborated. Unfortunately, confidentiality still reigns on this project so I need to keep the exact client and project under wraps. But it looks like they’re pretty close to springing it on the market – and we’re pretty sure it’s going make a huge impact. It doesn’t just look and work great — it completely rethinks the industry. In short, it’s a wow.