Hindsight is 20/20: Lessons learned after implementing experience based design

Experience Based Design (EBD) uses patient and staff experiences to identify quality improvement opportunities in healthcare settings. An EBD Collaborative was established to share successes and challenges related to the EBD projects. This paper summarizes the various lessons learned. A document analysis was conducted that examined meeting minutes and audio recordings, email communications, newsletters, project updates, project spotlights and evaluation surveys and interviews. A total of ten key themes were identified. While EBD teams encountered challenges, overall the experience led to successful quality improvement initiatives. In particular, staff gained new insights from the patients’ perspective, which enhanced their understanding of patient experience. Engaging patients in the work to co-design and improve the patient experience requires work, commitment, time and leadership. There are several strategies that the EBD teams found effective as outlined in this paper; however, the most important element of success is the ability to listen and act on what is heard.