Project Summary

Employing a Design Innovation approach to improve services for people with back pain and assist Clinicians in giving advice to patients.

Better Back' was a 1 year collaboration project between the DHI 'Experience Labs' and Active X Backs. We used a Design Innovation approach to investigate ways to enhance the lives of people with lower back pain, as well as assisting their clinicians in improving advice given to patients.

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Based on previous research undertaken by the project partner, Gavin Routledge of Active X Backs, it was evident that there is a lack of effective solutions for people
suffering from lower back pain. The condition is the single largest cause of disability and causes the UK billions of pounds in lost production every year. This insight, in combination with extensive background research helped to identify existing gaps and barriers. The resulting design opportunities led to the definition of a proposed development strategy. The project involved a series of Labs designed around the Design Innovation process from problem identification and the development of user journeys through to prototyping in order to define and develop various elements of the required user experience.

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These sessions allowed the team to gather insights from patients and clinicians. They then refined and developed the ideas generated, ensuring that the resulting solution is grounded in patients’ needs.