Abstract
Healthcare providers’ participation in the design process is essential for developing effective care interventions. However, engaging them through traditional design methods is challenging due to heavy workloads, unpredictable schedules, and hierarchical roles within care teams. Traditional co-design approaches, such as synchronous workshops, are often less effective in capturing clinical realities and may not fully embody participatory principles of collaboration and shared ownership. Our study addresses these challenges through a situated, self-paced co-design approach created with provider input and embedded within clinical workflows. Conducted in a pediatric cardiology clinic, fifteen providers participated over one month to refine a hybrid educational intervention for children with congenital heart disease. This approach shows how embedding co-design within clinical settings can foster provider engagement and equitable participation across roles without disrupting care. It offers a practical framework for enhancing provider involvement and improving the relevance of interventions, with potential to inform other complex, multi-stakeholder contexts.
Keywords
participatory design, co-design, healthcare, healthcare providers
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1639
Citation
Barbazi, N., Shin, J., Hiremath, G., and Lauff, C.A. (2026) Designing within the clinic: A situated co-design approach for healthcare provider engagement, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1639
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Designing within the clinic: A situated co-design approach for healthcare provider engagement
Healthcare providers’ participation in the design process is essential for developing effective care interventions. However, engaging them through traditional design methods is challenging due to heavy workloads, unpredictable schedules, and hierarchical roles within care teams. Traditional co-design approaches, such as synchronous workshops, are often less effective in capturing clinical realities and may not fully embody participatory principles of collaboration and shared ownership. Our study addresses these challenges through a situated, self-paced co-design approach created with provider input and embedded within clinical workflows. Conducted in a pediatric cardiology clinic, fifteen providers participated over one month to refine a hybrid educational intervention for children with congenital heart disease. This approach shows how embedding co-design within clinical settings can foster provider engagement and equitable participation across roles without disrupting care. It offers a practical framework for enhancing provider involvement and improving the relevance of interventions, with potential to inform other complex, multi-stakeholder contexts.