Biotechnology for Health (Biomedical Innovations)

Unit 1: Problem 1: Effective ER DesignBI 1.1Biomedical Innovation: systems & human-centered design

Map the stakeholders of an ER

List everyone affected by an emergency-room design and name what each one actually needs.

Builds on (2 levels back)inferred · high confidence

User vs. designer: Before you can list stakeholders, you must see that the people who use a space are not the same as the people who design it, and their goals can differ.
Need vs. want: A stakeholder map is only useful if each person's real need is named, not just a wish, so this skill depends on telling a need from a want.

Prerequisites are inferred: pending teacher review.

Re-learn the skill with worked practice and clear examples.

A stakeholder is anyone affected by the ER or able to affect it. Mapping them means listing each one and naming the single need that matters most to them.

Step 1: Cast a wide net

Stakeholders include patients, family members, nurses, doctors, paramedics arriving by ambulance, the registration clerk, the cleaning staff, and the hospital administration. If a choice helps or hurts them, they belong on the map.

Step 2: Pair each with a need

Next to every stakeholder, write the one thing they most need from the space. A patient needs to feel safe and be seen quickly; a nurse needs a clear line of sight to many beds; a paramedic needs a fast, unblocked path from the ambulance bay.

Step 3: Keep needs separate from wants

A need is something the person must have to succeed (a wheelchair-accessible entrance). A want is a preference (nicer chairs). Map the needs first; wants come later when you have room.

Practice

A team is mapping ER stakeholders. They list a paramedic who arrives by ambulance. Which entry best states that stakeholder's main NEED for the space?

Approved

A.A paramedic: wants the building to look modern
B.A paramedic: needs a fast, unobstructed path from the ambulance bay to the treatment area
C.A paramedic: does not use the ER, so leave them off the map
D.A paramedic: needs the waiting room to have a television

Show the worked solution ▾

Answer: B. A paramedic: needs a fast, unobstructed path from the ambulance bay to the treatment area

Step 1: Check that they belong: A paramedic brings patients in and is clearly affected by the layout, so they are a real stakeholder and stay on the map.
Step 2: Find their core need: Their job is to move a critical patient inside fast, so an unblocked path from the ambulance bay is the need that matters most.

Why it's right: A clear, fast route from the ambulance bay to treatment is what a paramedic must have to do their job, so it is their core need.

Why the others miss:

A: Looking modern is a want, not a need, and is not specific to the paramedic's job.
C: Paramedics do interact with the space when delivering patients, so removing them is wrong.
D: A television is a comfort item and not the paramedic's need.

Aligned to Human-centered design: stakeholder needs · reading level ~grade 9

Where you'd see this

A two-column chart titled 'Stakeholder | Main need' that an ER design team posts on the wall and updates as they interview each group.

Careers that use this

Hospital Administrator: Weighs the needs of patients, clinical staff, and the budget at once when approving a renovation, exactly the entries on a stakeholder map.

Video library

Watch: Map the stakeholders of an ER

Understanding the Stakeholders in Healthcare (7 Minutes)

BioTech Whisperer · ~7 min

Guided notes

Fill these in as you work through the lesson.

Big idea: A stakeholder is anyone who is affected by a design or who can affect it, and good ER design starts by naming each stakeholder and the one thing they most need.

Key terms: write the meaning

Stakeholder (a person with something at stake):
End user (the person who is in the space):
Need (something required to succeed, not just preferred):
Trade-off (what you give up to gain something else):

The rule

A paramedic is a of the ER because they are affected by its layout; for that person you should name their main : the one thing they must have from the space to do their job.

Check yourself

List four different people who walk through or work in an emergency room on a busy night.
Pick one of them and write the single thing they most need from the space.
Two stakeholders want opposite things from the same waiting area. How would you describe that tension without picking a side yet?

Work one example

For a hospital emergency room, name three stakeholders and, for each one, write one need they have for the space. Explain how you knew each was a need and not just a want.