Second-degree frugal innovation in the Belgian healthcare system

The innovation space created by designers within healthcare is meant to empower users (e.g., nurses, patients and therapists). Due to the variety of users and systems involved, this is a complex task. Often products fall short or do not bring the empowerment they promise, eroding “our sense of independence” (McDonagh & Thomas, 2010, p. 182). In this context, the concepts of frugal innovation and sustainability-as-flourishing have been implemented. Specifically, we asked 10 design teams to redesign idiosyncratic hacks generated by local healthcare professionals with the goal of upscaling into marketable products-systems for flourishing, without losing the goodness of fit. Even though the process produced very interesting business ideas, that still would fit with the idea of frugal innovation (in terms of cost reduction and locality, for example), some tensions have been highlighted and discussed in the paper

Second-degree frugal innovation in the Belgian healthcare system

The innovation space created by designers within healthcare is meant to empower users (e.g., nurses, patients and therapists). Due to the variety of users and systems involved, this is a complex task. Often products fall short or do not bring the empowerment they promise, eroding “our sense of independence” (McDonagh & Thomas, 2010, p. 182). In this context, the concepts of frugal innovation and sustainability-as-flourishing have been implemented. Specifically, we asked 10 design teams to redesign idiosyncratic hacks generated by local healthcare professionals with the goal of upscaling into marketable products systems for flourishing, without losing the goodness of fit. Even though the process produced very interesting business ideas, that still would fit with the idea of frugal innovation (in terms of cost reduction and locality, for example), some tensions have been highlighted and discussed in the paper