Improvising Change: Adaptation, Improvisation, and Innovation in Healthcare Design

Improvisation could be frowned upon as an act of disruption, creating an irregularity in design systems and processes. However, improvisation in design could lead to innovation and imaginative and necessary solutions. When researching modes of improvisation through the eyes of the design partners, i.e., the end-users, these situationembedded and bottom-up solutions highlight the shortcomings of the original design. On its own, creating a circular movement between design partners and designers can redefine the dialogue between the two. Furthermore, from an interpretive and hermeneutic point of view, improvisation in design holds a crucial role in invigorating and refreshing the material and visual design language. This is especially true when dealing with healthcare situations. In fact, we claim that the secondary design, resulting from bottom-up improvisation, is a necessity that should be reflected and embedded in the original design process of healthcare products. Based on in-depth qualitative design research, the contribution of this article is twofold. From an applied perspective, this research will help define ways to embed improvisation in healthcare design from the get-go. Furthermore, from a theoretical perspective, the importance of improvisation as a visual-material slang could invigorate and innovate the design language.