VR Simulation
TITLE
ROLE
TOOLS
Team Size
YEAR
HeartBeat System
VR Development Lead / UX Research
Unity / Figma / Trello
18
2025
Overview
Problem Statement
"How might we envision the future of smart hospitals where technology enables consumers and team members to find each other and everything?"
How might we redesign hospital systems with empathy and human-centered care at the core?
The goal
How might we redesign hospital systems with empathy and human-centered care at their core?
Primary Research
Methods:
User interviews: Nurses, clinical staff, and patient experience coordinators across multiple care units.
Surveys: Collected data on daily pain points, time spent locating equipment, and communication bottlenecks during shifts.
Insights:
Nurses spend significant time searching for equipment and personnel.
Fragmented communication tools create unnecessary delays and stress.
Streamlined task visibility and clearer coordination improve both efficiency and morale.
Pain Point Identified
Time lost searching for tools and information limits patient interaction.
Client Mission
AdventHealth’s mission is to extend the healing ministry of Christ through compassionate, whole person care, our redesign aimed to give nurses more time to connect with patients.
Design Process
User Journey Mapping
Persona:
Primary User: Nurse Brenda, a nurse navigating multiple systems, people, & spaces during her shift.
Meet Brenda
Storyboarding for VR:
To translate Brenda’s workflow into a VR experience, we created storyboards that visualized each key interaction from her perspective.
Frames helped our team prototype how the HeartBeat ecosystem would feel in action from Brenda's POV.
Design Solution: The HeartBeat Ecosystem
A connected ecosystem that unites caregivers, patients, and technology through RFID intelligence—creating a hospital that moves with clarity, efficiency, and compassion.
Deliverables
Connect: A mobile tool that helps nurses navigate, locate colleagues, and access real-time guidance.
Hub: A centralized dashboard providing full-floor visibility of staff, rooms, and assets.
Portal: Outside patient room display showing live status, vitals, and team updates.
Loop: An in-room interface that personalizes the patient experience and strengthens connection.
SmartHeart: Wearable RFID badge that tracks real-time location and status across the hospital.
Virtual Reality Simulation
VR Scenario: Planned nurse workflows such as patient check-in, equipment retrieval, and room preparation. Included UI states, interaction triggers, and task completion banners to guide the Unity VR build.
Agile Sprints
Agile design sprints / organized DEV tasks in Trello, breaking deliverables into clear priorities and daily checkpoints.
Interaction Flow
Onboarding
Task 1 - Escort Patient to CT Scan
Task 2 - Retrieve and Deliver Wheelchair:
USER Testing
Spatial feedback increased first attempt task success from 60% to 100%, improving comprehension by 40%.
Impact
- Improved nurse task comprehension by 40% through spatial feedback and design thinking, combining traditional UI logic with spatial design.
- Led a cross disciplinary team applying design thinking to healthcare systems, fostering collaboration between XR developers, UI designers, and clinical experts.
- Recognized by AdventHealth leadership as a scalable innovation for hospital integration, validating the impact of empathetic systems level design.
Team Photo - AdventHealth Orlando, FL