Listen to Learn About
- The unique challenges of designing and innovating in the healthcare space
- Problem-centric vs solution-centric thinking and action
- The importance of change management in the design process
Our Guest
Matt is a designer and health care innovation strategist. Matt’s design roots are in information, product, and service design. His design practice began with visual arts, information design, and product design for luxury goods before deciding to pivot into design for social impact. With this new focus on using design to solve societal issues, Matt’s work expanded into the design of services and co-design as a tool for empowering disadvantaged communities. Matt’s guiding principle is that design is a mindset that anyone can leverage, and that the role of the “Designer” is to help others tap into this mindset to imagine new possibilities.
In 2012, Matt made a leap into health care when he joined the newly minted Center for Health Care Transformation and Innovation at Penn Medicine (CHTI). The mission of this new center was to serve as a catalyst and accelerator for initiatives that dramatically improve health outcomes, patient and provider experiences, and decrease the cost of care.
Entering as the first designer on this new team, Matt has had the unique opportunity to help build CHTI’s design discipline and elevate design thinking as a key tool in Penn Medicine’s organizational toolbox. Matt’s design process balances divergent and creative thinking to push beyond incremental solutions with the rigor of an evidence-based approach.
Matt leads with the belief that the foundation of great design, and building a culture of innovation, is empowerment. That the greatest ingredient for innovation in any large service organization is the people on the front lines of service delivery who have the passion, insight, and opportunity to effect change. However, there are not often clear pathways for these staff to gain traction with ideas nor are there efficient ways for leadership to identify and support these frontline champions. Matt believes bridging this gap, through design, between high-level organizational objectives and the frontline staff with the answers, where agency is created for innovation, is the key to unlocking the true potential of an organization.
Matt does not see design as a silver bullet, but rather a binder that can align the many, diverse, voices and skills needed for transformative solutions. In addition to design, Matt will quickly point to the various disciplines and individuals across Penn Medicine that he feels create the secret sauce that makes anything possible. From behavioral economists to data scientists, quality and safety experts to hospitality experts, Matt is a firm believer that everyone has something to contribute, if we center ourselves around a shared set of values that prioritize improving the lives of others.
Show Highlights
[02:02] Matt’s love of the fine arts, and why he ended up in graphic design.
[02:34] Evolving from graphic design into product design of dinnerware.
[03:25] The book that helped change Matt’s design path.
[04:33] Grad school at the University of Arts in Philadelphia.
[05:44] How Matt’s grad school project with Penn Medicine led to the creation of the Center he works at today.
[09:30] Being problem-centric instead of solution-centric.
[12:45] The unique challenges of innovation work in healthcare.
[14:26] One of Matt’s big “a-ha!” moments.
[15:29] An exercise Matt uses to help people move past assumptions and think creatively.
[18:31] Looking for the people who really wanted the help.
[19:34] Storytelling in Matt’s work.
[22:28] The need for rigor and evidence when designing for healthcare.
[24:42] Matt encourages new designers to find ways to measure the success of their work.
[25:44] Getting comfortable with the business and finance side of healthcare.
[29:38] The importance of good change management.
[30:55] Using behavior design to help people with change.
[31:27] Conflict as a natural part of the design process.
[35:57] Matt’s advice for those wanting to work in healthcare design.
[38:32] Books and resources Matt recommends.
Links
Matthew on LinkedIn
Matthew at UPenn Medicine
Penn Medicine: Center for Health Care Transformation and Innovation
A Global Pandemic Turned Everything Upside Down. What Has Penn Medicine’s Innovation Team Learned From That?
Book Recommendations
Design Revolution: 100 Products The Empower People, by Emily Pilloton
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, by Erving Goffman
Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like
Healthcare + Systems + Risk + Design with Rob Lister — DT101 E122
A Designer’s Journey into Designing for Health and Healthcare with Lorna Ross — DT101 E45
Designing Health Systems + Creating Effective Design Workshops with Sean Molloy — DT101 E44
