Medical device design practitioner strategies for prototype-centered front-end design stakeholder engagements in low-resource settings

DS 94: Proceedings of the Design Society: 22nd International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED19)

Year: 2019
Editor: Wartzack, Sandro; Schleich, Benjamin; Gon
Author: Coulentianos, Marianna J.; Rodriguez-Calero, Ilka; Daly, Shanna R.; Burridge, Jocelyn; Sienko, Kathleen H.
Series: ICED
Institution: University of Michigan
Section: Design for healthcare
DOI number: https://doi.org/10.1017/dsi.2019.101
ISSN: 2220-4342

Abstract

Prototypes have the potential to provoke discussion and to encourage stakeholders to play an active role during design engagements in the front-end phases of a design process. However, detailed descriptions of stakeholder engagement strategies in front-end design are lacking. The aim of this research study was to understand how design practitioners prepare and manage stakeholders for engagements involving prototypes in the front-end phases of a medical device design process. Design practitioners at companies developing mechanical and electromechanical medical devices for use in low- and middle-income countries were interviewed following a semi-structured interview guide. Interview transcripts were analysed, and inductive codes were developed. The findings suggest that design practitioners manage the group composition of stakeholders, review the project and prototype(s) with stakeholders at the start of the engagement, and show the progress of prototypes to stakeholders over multiple engagements. These strategies shed light on the importance of handling interpersonal relationships during stakeholder engagement with prototypes.

Keywords: User centred design, Early design phases, Design methods, Stakeholder engagement, Medical device design

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