DIVERSEY CARE
HOSPITAL WIPES
Diversey Care tasked Blue Clover Studios with redesigning their wipes currently used within
their infection prevention line in hospitals. They wanted to hear from stakeholders who use their
products on a regular basis to design a better package that fit’s their system. Our team’s role was
to conduct contextual inquiry followed by one-on-one interviews to understand the wipe
cleaning process within hospitals and the challenges associated with it. We followed and interviewed environmental services staff, nurses, OR staff, and radiology to understand
how each uses wipes differently in the hospital and develop a solution that fits all.
My Role:
With this being my first start-to-finish project at Berry, my role consisted
of planning and conducting all research, but was accompanied with
the Design Strategist Manager throughout the course of the project.
Research & Activities:
Contextual Inquiry - on-premise field research to see process first hand
IDI Interviews - to follow up with select participants to gain better understanding
Team:
Design Strategy Manager
Industrial Designer
Diversey Team
Biggest Challenge:
Working within hospital boundaries
and their hectic timeline.
Favorite Part of Project:
I got to see an open heart surgery! Granted, it was on a TV, through a window... but I could visibly see the surgeon operating – totally geeked out.
THE PLAN
HOSPITALS &
PARTICIPANTS
2 Hospitals
59 Participants
1418 Observations
ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES (EVS)
Cleaning staff within hospitals who
use large format wipes buckets
NURSES & RADIOLOGY
Uses smaller containers to quick
clean tools and equipment
O.R. STAFF
Uses both large and small
formats depending on the mess
CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY
We followed stakeholders to observe how wipes fit within their cleaning systems. While our primary focus during this time was to observe, if questions came up we probed to understand context.
FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEWS
After observing first hand, we set a day to interview key participants to understand their thoughts and challenges and cover anything we may have missed while observing or needed clarity on.
BRACKET TESTING (with prototypes after ideation refinement)
With prototypes nearing final revisions, I was tasked with gauging the intuition
of the prototypes. These were quick gut checks and took no more than 15 minutes for each participant. Participants were tasked with sliding the prototype into the designated wall mount while I observed and followed up with questions.
KEY OBSERVATIONS
THE FINDINGS
WIPES (the wipes)
At times, wipes become very difficult
to tear and people will pull more wipes than intended or spend extra time
trying to get them separated
When scrubbing a rough or dried mess, wipes will sometimes tear under pressure
There is a balance between wipe perforation and the dispensing orifice which dictates wipe separation and ease of dispensing
CONTAINER (the package)
People are often forced to use two
hands to dispense wipes because they
will get stuck or the bucket will move
Many people avoid the pain of opening
and dispensing wipes and will remove
the entire lid to access wipes
Disorganization and clutter
result in unnecessary waste
of time and space
FILLING (the filling process & pre-moist wipes)
Most people misunderstand the
proper filling protocol causing
inconsistent wipe saturation
People find that pre-moist wipes are
easier and more efficient because
there are less steps and they know that
the solution will always be accurate
Tasks that are left open
to interpretation often
result in inconsistency
BRACKET TESTING
THE OUTCOME
HOW MIGHT WE...
Make measuring an integrated
package function?
Make wipes readily accessible at all times?
Make it easy to separate a single
wipe one-handed?
Provide control for dispensing one
or multiple wipes?
Make it intuitively obvious that
wipes are running low?
Expose the perfect wipe tail after each use?
WHERE WE ARE
This project has completed all phases within the UCD team including ideation, refinement, and iterative research. It has since been passed onto engineers and
unit molds are in the process of being
made for the new packaging to be
produced and launched.
CONCEPT REFINEMENT
THE DETAILS
PRELIMINARY RESEARCH
& PLANNING
hospitals visited
Partnering with Diversey Care we were able to use their connections with hospitals they currently supply wipes to. We spent two days with each hospital, the first day consisted of simply observing users, followed with a second day to conduct follow-up interviews. While each hospital used Diversey wipes, Deaconess used dry wipes and filled them with solution and Floyd used pre-moistened wipes.
Many people come in-contact with wipes across their lifespan, but the people who use them most are typically in front of patients often and are cleaning their rooms and other high touch points.
stakeholder map.
EVS staff are the primary users of
large-scale wipes. Their role within
the hospital to to clean patient rooms
daily and conduct a deep clean once
they leave, but they also clean other common areas like waiting rooms
and restrooms as well.
environmental services. (EVS)
Most nurses are focused on the patients on a regular basis, but they do use wipes for regular touch-ups. While EVS use large buckets of wipes, nurses interact with the canister sizes as they can be stored and carried easier. Nurses are typically cleaning tools they use on patients, their food trays, and other high-touch points within the rooms.
nursing
ORs are a bit more difficult to clean as they typically contain bigger messes than found in patient's rooms. Wipes are often doubled up and surfaces sometimes need double wipe downs. While Deaconess used bucket sizes in their ORs, Floyd used canisters with as many as 10 in a room.
O.R.
Radiology uses wipes after each x-ray to clean the table, areas touched, and any messes. At the end of the day they conduct a more thorough cleaning to sanitize the room.
radiology
wipes journey.
With observing both wipes that need to be moistened and
pre-moistened wipes, we
noticed some differences within their journey. Each had their pros and cons, but overall dry wipes that required moistening showed
a more negative journey.
ELDERLY, ARTHRITIS,
& PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
observations.
When looking at the data, we separated it into three primary categories that focus on the main usability of the packages - the container itself, the filling process for dry wipes, and the wipes themselves. Within each of
these main categories, they were separated into the key usability aspects with each.
While the container was working
in some instances, many time it proved a challenge. Parts would often break, be difficult to dispense from, or hurt people when attempting to start a new wipe. These were all aspects later addressed in ideation.
Disorganization and clutter result in
unnecessary waste of time and space
example video.
I find videos to be one of the most important takeaways for stakeholders. Although they weren't there during the interviews, they are able to witness key moments that occurred. For each category of observations, I create a corresponding video using Premiere Pro.
This video talks about opening >
ELDERLY, ARTHRITIS,
& PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
While people using dry wipes were using the same buckets
as the pre-moistened wipes,
the process included more steps. They were required to measure the solution put into the package and had many more opportunities
for mistakes.
observations.
Tasks that are left open to interpretation
often result in inconsistency
example video.
I find videos to be one of the most important takeaways for stakeholders. Although they weren't there during the interviews, they are able to witness key moments that occurred. For each category of observations, I create a corresponding video using Premiere Pro.
This video talks about filling >
ELDERLY, ARTHRITIS,
& PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
While the package was our primary research objective, the wipes themselves came up frequently. People experienced difficulties with wipes tearing
and were required to use all
sides of the wipe before disposing. Overall, people desired more textured wipes
for scrubbing and thicker
wipes to last longer.
observations.
There is a balance between wipe perforation and the dispensing orifice which dictates wipe separation and ease of dispensing
I find videos to be one of the most important takeaways for stakeholders. Although they weren't there during the interviews, they are able to witness key moments that occurred. For each category of observations, I create a corresponding video using Premiere Pro.
This video talks about folding >
example video.
KEY USABILITY TAKEAWAYS
& IDEATION
Provide control for dispensing
one or multiple wipes?
Make it intuitively obvious
that wipes are running low?
Make wipes readily available
at all times?
Make the container comfortable
in one hand?
HOW MIGHT WE...
After presenting our findings from research we lead a co-creation session with the Diversey team to develop new ideas that
solve user's problems. The entire process was two days
and ended with refined sketches to be modeled and refined.
concept refinement.
As concepts became more refined, we printed 3D models for focus groups and testing. Our focus group moderator at the time traveled to different cities across the US talking to nurses and EVS staff.
BRACKET TESTING
As the concepts continued to get refined, we needed some quick feedback on the intuition of the bracket/wipes combo. I was tasked with conducting quick interviews with people within the office asking them to place the package into the bracket, then remove it. This was conducted in one day as a gut check. Small changes were made to the package opening to make it more intuitive as many people overlooked this aspect.
