Staff participation in design with multiple tools: Impact on design and POE results.

Objective: This is a concluding part of an action research study to evaluate the impact on healthcare staff participation in the design of a new intensive care unit (ICU). Staff participated with multiple tools in the design; during the predesign phase utilizing co-design and virtual mock-ups, and also participating in the predesign evaluation (PDE) and postoccupancy evaluation (POE). Both the ICU design and evaluations were based on the principles of evidence-based design studies.

Nurses' Participation in the Design of an Intensive Care Unit: The Use of Virtual Mock-Ups.

Background: Co-design with multiple tools is useful when end users' knowledge is important, especially when designers work with people unfamiliar with design. Many studies have highlighted the importance of nurses' participation in design, and such participation requires the development of techniques and tools to facilitate collaboration. This article analyzes how nurses participated in designing a general intensive care unit in a walk-in virtual environment (VE) and examines how their work-related knowledge can be transferred to the design process of spaces.