An intuitive way-finding system for an imaginative healing garden in Starship children’s hospital.
Healeon began as a design-led response to a brief encouraging Kiwis to participate and invigorate urban spaces with the concept of a future community garden.
Through research, we found that community gardens serve as more than green spaces. They are important tools for emotional support, especially in hospital environments.
Caring for a critically ill child brings emotional, physical, and psychological challenges. As conditions worsen, uncertainty grows, intensifying distress and leading to burnout and emotional disconnection.
However, these challenges don’t exist in isolation. They are often exacerbated by the very spaces families occupy while providing care.
To create a healing space for parents, we identified Starship Children’s Hospital as a fitting location. Its focus on families and central position matched our mission to transform gardens into spaces of emotional support.
Based on field research and site analysis, we selected an underused balcony on Level 4 of Starship. The space was reimagined into four sensory zones, each offering emotional relief, supported by a screen I was responsible for crafting:
A step-by-step guide available in the bottom navigation to help users understand how to navigate the interface and its features at any time.
Providing the ability to adjust language and accessibility settings to better suit individual needs.
Helping users easily locate the Healeon Garden from their current location and view the estimated time and distance to reach it.
Enabling users to briefly explore different garden zones and amenities through a colour-coded map and detailed zone pages before their visit.
A quick questionnaire that matches users to the garden zone best suited to their current feelings and needs.
A direct invitation for users to learn more about Healeon’s story and mission.
To define our direction, we first studied the concept of community gardens. Research shows they are collective spaces for growing plants, fostering connections, promoting social equity, and improving health and living conditions (Wang, 2006).
Beyond this, community gardens also strengthen community ties and enhance well-being. However, challenges still exist.
Community gardens are expanding beyond food cultivation. Research shows that gardens placed in hospitals offer important new benefits. While patients are often too sick to use these spaces, families find refuge and relief in them (Smidl, Mitchell, and Creighton, 2017).
While patients are often too sick to use these spaces, families find refuge and relief in them (Smidl, Mitchell, and Creighton, 2017), where additional studies show hospital gardens help reduce stress and improve cognitive function, making them more essential than ever.
After having done research and narrowing down to my solution, I researched into existing kiosks and started sketching ideas on paper. I allocated one minute per screen idea, so that I could come up with various ideas and solutions for my product.
Despite having created wireframes, my first iterations did not fully capture the kiosk’s potential. The screens felt too minimal and I lacked clear resources on user flow and layout design. To improve, I studied physical wayfinding kiosks in malls and explored additional online references.
With deeper research and visual inspiration, I then refined my design into a lo-fi prototype, ready for user testing.
Before further iterations, I conducted user testing with three participants. While there were notable positives, I was also able to identify key issues and areas for improvement:
Finally, before moving into final production, I crafted a custom UI kit to ensure consistency across both our visual branding and the hi-fi prototype.
Conclusion
Conclusion
An on-the-go vending solution for uni students to easily access cheap and healthy meal preps.
A digital-meets-outdoor adventure playground that encourages Kiwi tamariki to explore the natural world.
