design:CASE / Zealand Care A/S

design:CASE A strong interaction design creates results. Zealand Care A/S discovered this when the company, as the first in Denmark, launched an integrated mobile telephony and IT solution for senior home care. The interaction design gave the home carers more time for their core services and meant savings for the municipalities. danish design centre

This master case illustrates the value-creating and business potentials of design through the story about Zealand Care A/S. FACTS ABOUT ZEALAND CARE A/S Million dkr

2003

2004

2005

2006

Net turnover

102.2

133.7

147

173.2

Profit 5.4

9.7

10.5

15.7

Net profit ratio

5.3%

7.2%

7.1%

9%

Rate of return

8.2%

9.9%

8.8%

11.3%

Zealand Care A/S offers care services to the public and private sector within three business areas: • Assistive aids • Professional IT systems for senior home care,

disability services, social services and psychiatric care

• Product testing • Education and training concepts Zealand Care has 150 employees, 60 of whom are attached to the headquarter in Holbæk, while the rest are attached to local service centres for assistive aids throughout Denmark. Since 2006, Zealand Care has been owned by the Dutch Welzorg Group. Four times, Zealand Care A/S has been listed as a gazelle company by the Danish financial newspaper Børsen, and in 2006 the company won the Innovation Cup for Region Zealand.

Zealand Care A/S 14, Tåstrup Møllevej 4300 Holbæk Denmark Tel +45 5944 1485 Fax +45 5945 1645 www.zealandcare.dk

“We have the skills and the courage to pursue integration and innovation – that is where we make money in comparison with other companies.” Bjarne Henneman, administrerende direktør Zealand Care A/S

FROM PRODUCT DESIGN TO INTERACTION DESIGN

USER-CENTRED DESIGN AND INTERDISCIPLINARY

AN INTERACTION DESIGN TAKES SHAPE

COLLABORATION

Having secured a dominant role in the field of assistive aids,

Zealand Care was established in 1996 as a small project

Zealand Care now turned toward new business areas.

organisation with government funding to develop the market

The related care area constituted a larger market than the

for assistive aids (wheelchairs, lifting equipment, bath chairs

assistive aids area. It was also a market characterised by fierce

etc.). It was soon clear that the Danish market for assistive aids

competition from large companies which were not focused on

lacked overall management. In 1997, Zealand Care expanded its

smaller clients. Zealand Care therefore decided to target the

business area and established assistive aids centres throughout

smaller municipalities in Denmark.

the country.

In 1999, Zealand Care launched the first IT system for organFrom the beginning, Zealand Care was focused on user-oriented

ising home care, but further major steps were needed to achieve

design; thus, in 1998 the company added a designer to the staff

a real breakthrough in the care area. This was accomplished in

to develop new and better assistive aids. The design process

2002 with ‘Mobile Care’ – an integrated mobile telephony and

took place in an interdisciplinary collaboration with occupational/

IT solution for managing home care. Mobile Care consists of

physiotherapists and designers, and the results were so good

a handheld mobile phone and computer, which lets the home

that many of the new assistive aid designs won awards.

carer read and record relevant case information. The screen images and navigation are based on menus and icons that are

Concurrent with these developments, Zealand Care added

specially developed for the mobile phone interface and custom-

essential competence by acquiring the IT company UniqSoft,

made to match the underlying IT system in the municipal

which had specialised in mobile IT solutions.

administration.

THE CHALLENGE

BEFORE MOBILE CARE:

Zealand Care faced a complex task in developing a modern and

A typical work day for a home carer

economical home care system for the Danish municipalities.

Rationalisation efforts had led to several rounds of budget cuts

• The work day starts at the administration

in the care area. The home carers were under greater pressure

office; the day’s schedule and assignments are

at work, and the best use of the scarce resources was a conten-

handed out

tious issue. Home care was already a low-status area, and it was difficult to attract qualified labour.

• For every visit, the home carer fills out a

paper form, which is returned to the

User surveys and analyses highlighted two essential factors:

administration office

The home carers used time-consuming methods for keeping records, and the municipalities used overly inflexible planning

• The home carer did not have access to any

methods. In order to change the reporting method and give

last-minute changes in the daily schedule

the home carers more control over their work responsibilities,

without getting in touch with the administration

the work procedures had to become digital and mobile.

• There was a time-consuming hand-over process

in connection with additional assignments such

as changes in medication or booking doctor’s

or nurse’s visits for the client.

FROM PAPER TRAIL TO MOBILE COMPUTING

Digitizing work methods requires an effort from the users, and this aspect posed an additional challenge for Zealand Care. The home carers were not necessarily familiar with technology such as computers and mobile phones. They needed a solution that was intuitive to use for everyone.

phone and computer which gives the home carer access to

“During the development stage, it is important to take a holistic approach to avoid having the systems dominated by management, economic or IT concerns alone.”

reading and recording all the relevant case information.

Bjarne Henneman

The interaction design Mobile Care was developed in an interdisciplinary process involving web designers, IT developers, the mobile phone company Nokia, and a team of nurses and home carers. The solution is based on a handheld mobile

All screen images and navigation use a design with menus and icons that make it easy to operate the mobile phone, and which match the underlying IT system.

A characteristic feature of the design of the mobile phone itself is the four main function buttons. These buttons lets the home carer access information about the citizen, records, medication charts, driving schedule, etc. in a simple and intuitive way.

The developers chose a mobile phone over, for example, an electronic calendar because the mobile phone has a more user-friendly design. It works as a computer and a telephone, and there is an element of prestige in having a “work mobile phone” in the care sector. This helps give the home carers the sense that their job has been upgraded.

All record-keeping is done online, so the home carer is able to report directly to the planners in the municipal administration. This saves time, both for the home carer and for the planners, who now have a new and much more flexible way of communicating and cooperating.

The Mobile Care terminal

USER-DRIVEN INNOVATION

Managing Director Bjarne Henneman about the design require-

as much in terms of the graphic user interface in the IT systems

ments in the care area: “Previously, senior citizens were

that we develop.

perceived and treated as a homogenous group with uniform needs, but they are now requiring much more individualised

In addition, we have a big task in designing systems that will

treatment. The senior citizens see themselves as consumers,

accommodate the many individual needs from citizens and

and they expect the same service level from public services as

municipal administrations.

they do from any other service provider. Therefore, the municipalities are also raising their demands to the products and

Zealand Care strives to provide efficient solutions that are

services that we provide.

economical for the municipalities. In our philosophy, all processes must be user-centred to promote the best and most

In this context, design plays a crucial role. Not just in terms of

valid solutions. This is definitely true of personal care.�

the industrial design of the assistive aids that we supply, but just

Example of driving schedule in Mobile Care

Example of medication chart in Mobile Care

ORGANISING A GROWTH COMPANY

Zealand Care has developed the company through innovative design development. Their goal is to launch a new solution every two years. Over the years, Zealand Care has gathered information about assistive aids and care, and it is this knowledge that now forms the basis for the development of new design solutions for the municipalities.

Zealand Care applies a phase model in design development, where each phase is considered an “ice floe” that is going to melt if the individual phase lasts too long or does not provide the desired result. The phases are not completed until a number of economic, technical and professional requirements have been met. The initial phases have top priority, as experience shows that they are particularly crucial for creating a sustainable design.

Structurally, the development takes place in a project organisation, where ideas are described through business cases, and a project group is established. The project work involves interdisciplinary competencies every step of the way and goes across the organisation – from idea to implementation and sales.

Bjarne Henneman about the innovative company: “To be creative and innovative requires tight management. There have to limits and requirements that keep the process on track and ensure the necessary momentum. We are developing for profit – not for the market; that is to say that the process is not completed successfully, until we find that the design generates decent earnings. Therefore, our designers and developers are involved in all the phases, including sales and marketing.”

“We need to grasp the ongoing debate and have basic insights into legislation and technological developments in the area of personal care. That gives us the necessary understanding to integrate different systems. We have the skills and the courage to pursue integration and innovation – that is where we make money in comparison with other companies,” siger Bjarne Henneman.

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