MOOD ROOM • Physical Component
Sometimes it feels like our lives are a series of waiting – for the bus, for a response, for our next source of excitement. When we are in traffic, in line, or in a waiting room, we slip into a liminal period of anticipation. Anxiety, impatience, and expectation often accompany the simple act of waiting.
MOOD ROOM is an interactive installation piece situated inside a medical waiting room. This experimental installation explores the intimate connection between our emotions and the physical spaces we occupy, particularly in healthcare settings, where sterile design amplifies negative feelings. How can redesigning our spaces shift our mindsets? Instead of dwelling on the act of waiting, why not lean into the moment of pause as an opportunity for contemplation?
With a webcam and responsive projections (using TouchDesigner), this piece invites participants to co-create their experience. The projections respond to movement, allowing participants to "paint" with light as it moves through layers of organza and mirrored tiles, creating a dynamic, interactive installation.
welcome room • DIGITAL COMPONENT
The first component of the reimagined waiting room experience involved a digital prototype for an emotional check-in process, which aimed to improve the anxiety-inducing experience of waiting.
For the first stages of user research, I worked with two team members (Honor Magon and Komal Kumar) from the Stanford class “Design for Health Equity.” We each conducted numerous in-depth interviews with patients and physicians.
After conducting interviews and observing the waiting room setting, we found that uncertainty (at multiple stages and scales) was an overarching theme of patient discomfort in the waiting room. Many examples of ambiguity arose in conversation, but some of the most prevalent topics were: 1) not knowing what to expect from the appointment, and 2) unknown wait times (in the words of one interviewee: “Part of what makes waiting so painful is just having no clue how long I’ll be sitting there… it could be 5 minutes or 50!”).
On top of these worries, the physical design of many waiting rooms exacerbates discomfort. When a patient enters the waiting room, they are handed forms to fill out, sitting in fluorescent lighting and uninviting furnishings.
We realized transforming the waiting room would require a multi-pronged approach, and may not be solvable with just one solution. In order to take one step towards improving patient experience and well-being, as well as the communication between patients and providers, I created this digital emotional check-in process.
This step serves two functions: 1) helping people in the waiting room feel more at ease, and 2) providing an opportunity for patients to share information that will prepare them and their primary care provider for the appointment. Both patients and providers interviewed expressed a desire for calm, reflective moments, as well as improved communication and access to information.
This emotional check-in design and experimental installation piece are not final solutions for a transformed waiting room experience. However, they demonstrate that every experience, product, and space can be reimagined to better serve people’s needs. My hope is that examples like these help reshape healthcare experiences to more deeply support people’s emotional well-being.