The Oslo School of Architecture and Design AHO, Norway
Application deadline: March 6, 2016

A design research PhD position is now available to further develop the service design/interaction design research field within the area of healthcare. The position is centered in practice oriented design inquiry using designing as a means to research.

The position is a part of the newly funded Centre for Connected Care (C3) which is an 8 year initiative funded by the Norwegian Research Council, commercial organizations and by research partners. C3 aims to accelerate adoption and diffusion of patient-centric innovations that change patient pathways and delivery systems, empower patients and increase growth in the health care industry.

We invite applications, together with formal research doctoral project descriptions, for study within the following area:

Service design, co-creation, patient experience and interactions with touch-point ecologies

The patient journey is becoming increasingly digital, and the number and type of digital touch-points are exploding. In some situations, interaction may be focused around one main integrative touch-point (for example an app), but increasingly we see an ecology of touch-points that have to seamlessly work together to form the desired patient experience. This ecology may include touch-points of generic character, such as an app, e-mail or a web page, but can also include specialised touch-points such as home monitoring technology, e-therapy, medical equipment etc. How should a service designer work with touch-point ecologies to co-create a seamless patient experience, and what are the roles of people in such a journey?

The development process for digital first services is undergoing change. Lean approaches to development have become central in terms of process design, whilst agile approaches have become central in ICT. Service Design has its own approach, and needs to relate to being both lean and agile. How can Service Design relate to both of these perspectives in terms of designing for future health services?

Sensors, smart-phones, cloud computing and communities of knowledge are coming together in the quantified self to collect data and transform this data into insights offering guidance and even diagnoses about an individual’s health situation. This primarily digital and patient-initiated monitoring can improve and radically challenge todays health service. In what ways could, and should, a health providers engage themselves in this area? What role can interaction design play in supporting the development, delivery and experience of such services?

Read the whole ad:
PhD fellowship – Bridging Service Design

To apply for this position it has to be done thru our website link: https://aho.no/en/about-aho/vacancies.