Internship · Princess Máxima Centre · Hospital innovation
Designing in a hospital
A semester on the innovation team of the Princess Máxima Centre for paediatric oncology, designing to improve the quality of life of children with cancer.
Summary
Across three projects (a resting place on an IV-stand, a bed clamp, and a hygiene intervention) I designed within a real production and regulatory context for the first time. Designing for young children meant direct user testing was rarely possible, so I learned to gather insight by observing day-to-day hospital life and through roleplay. I weighed designs against actual production cost, considered medical-device regulation, and finally built the higher-fidelity prototypes, with 3D printing and simulation, that I had wanted to learn to make for years.
Main learning points
- High-fidelity prototyping. 3D printing and simulation were skills I wanted to learn since my earliest projects. They now aid my Technology & Realization depth.
- Insight without direct testing. Observation and roleplay are real research tools when your users cannot be tested directly.
- Real cost, real constraints. Weighing benefit against production cost and regulation grew my Business & Entrepreneurship perspective beyond student-budget thinking.
- Momentum among non-designers. Keeping a design process moving when you are not surrounded by designers is its own skill.