Ideation, in its broadest term, rests upon creative potential and imagination. In the clinic, I think about ideation as the delight seen in the eyes of a young medical student when they come up with a differential diagnosis. And, much like that list of medical student differential diagnoses, there are no true wrong answers here. Rather, the ideas emerge because they are tethered to the findings of the empathy and define phases. In truth, we could have an entire Rheuminations column on the creative thinking process of rheumatologists, but in this column, let me focus on two techniques that I absolutely adore and that I’d recommend you use in clinical settings. The first is “worst possible idea”—where the absolute silliest and most ridiculous ideas (or diagnoses) are entertained to challenge what makes a good idea (or diagnosis). Sometimes, what appears to be the worst idea may actually be revisited and turn out to be the best.
The other is to analogize. Because we consolidate our knowledge of the world into analogies and metaphors, the analogizing technique may be useful in clarifying why we are thinking the way that we are thinking—and to draw new ideas based on that insight.
Prototyping—Getting a Plan Together
One of the greatest joys in redesigning The Rheumatologist was seeing the huge numbers of prototypes. We incorporated all sorts of ideas into mock-ups. Different colors, fonts, menus, even capitalization schemes—they all made The Rheumatologist seem fresh and distinguished. Choosing between all of them was extraordinarily difficult, but I’m glad we had the opportunity to mix and match elements of each prototype together to get this lovely final product.
When it comes to the clinic, the prototype is somewhat limited, but there’s still a very good parallel. I think about medications and therapies as elements of a larger prototype therapeutic plan. As prototypes and treatment plans develop, we start with hazy outlines of what to do and then sharpen them up until they come to fruition.
As designers in the clinical setting, we have to constantly be aware of the consequences of poor prototyping. If we didn’t ideate widely and collaboratively enough to come up with enough prototypes, all the work previously done is for naught.
Testing (or Is It Treating?)
The last step in the design-thinking process is the one most often seen—testing. Testing in the design-thinking sense involves deploying the prototypes to understand how they would be adopted. Unlike classical thinking about tests with failures or successes, testing in this context is more like probing to understand how prototypes can be improved upon and how the lives of our users (or patients) can be positively impacted. For The Rheumatologist, it was printing out as many prototypes as possible and putting the printouts before readers and getting their opinions on what worked and what didn’t.
