Visual materials for ethnographic observations (stage 1)
Designing visual templates for observation notes
A comprehensive observation template was created to systematically examine the blood culture pathway within the ED. It covered various stages, including actions, timelines, staff responsibilities, decision-making factors, and perspectives from healthcare teams and patients. The template also addressed barriers, challenges, and optimisation opportunities.
By integrating prospective thinking and service design journey mapping, we adopted a holistic approach. A 12-page observation note template was developed for each hospital, customized into printed notebooks tailored to the unique observation settings.
Notebooks started with predictive questions specific to locations and stages, acting as reminders, while the rest of the pages allowed for documenting unforeseen findings and insights alongside observation tasks.
These customised notebooks have been utilised during observations in the ED and lab across three hospitals in part 1c of this research project.