The Challenge

Penn Medicine’s Cedar Avenue Hospital in Philadelphia faced a historic trend of mistrust from the surrounding community. This project aimed to identify the underlying causes and provide actionable recommendations to rebuild trust.

My Role

As one of five UX researchers, I led the development of the research plan. This included designing research activities such as secondary research, patient interviews, and questionnaires. I also defined the deliverables to ensure we met our learning objectives and applied appropriate methods.

The Approach

• Research: Conducted surveys, interviews, and community immersions to gather comprehensive insights. Collaborated with both community members and doctors.

• Synthesis: Utilized affinity maps and the known-unknown matrix to analyze the data. I played a significant role in visualizing this information to distill solid insights.

• Insights: Identified key areas for improvement such as feedback loops, brand awareness, wayfinding, engagement, and setting clearer expectations.

Key Challenges

Engaging with a standoffish community was challenging. Conversations often took longer than planned, requiring time-conscious management. Future improvements could include setting up a dedicated station with incentives like coffee to attract more participants with meaningful stories.

Outcomes

We presented our insights and recommendations to hospital management. These included:

• Enhancing feedback mechanisms

• Improving brand awareness

• Optimizing wayfinding systems

• Strengthening engagement between the hospital and community

• Setting clearer expectations

Final Thoughts

Trust is crucial and can be rebuilt with acknowledgment and consistent effort. This project underscored the importance of thorough research, effective communication, and the need for strategic engagement methods to foster trust within communities.

This is a brief overview. I can discuss the project and my findings in more detail during an interview. Feel free to reach out!