A structural format to facilitate user input for the co-design of a cardiac health unit

Abstract

© 2020 by authors, all rights reserved. Experience-based co-design and post occupancy evaluation are two mechanisms adopted for future planning and design of built spaces. They share a common strategy in that they both require input from a prospective, or current, built environment user. In the case of healthcare spaces, these users include doctors, nurses, patients and family. However, obtaining relevant and useful information from these sources is problematic. The users lack any specific conceptual knowledge and skills required in the design process. Several authors have addressed this issue by asking the user to comment on specific healthcare environment variables. These variables are the results of prior evidence-based research. Based on the work of Van der Voort and Van Wegen (2005) the author has developed a survey questionnaire and user input procedure Waroonkun (2019) that addresses the functional elements of a healthcare, built environment (in this case, a cardiac health unit). The strength and impact of this method was its ability to tap into a broad functional view of the users’ experience of a built environment. The results of the present study indicate using a POE based, structured assessment strategy provided a solid guideline for determining a wide range of design issues from a user perspective.