ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study which focuses on the use of empathic tools, such as storytelling, to give shape to a more human-centred healthcare service environment in the USA. Directed storytelling draws on the approach used in narrative inquiry to help designers explore services so they can begin to understand them without having to do long-term ethnographic research. This case study will describe the method and explore how directed storytelling has contributed to the design of healthcare-related services. Services are activities or events that form a service product through interaction between the customer, any mediating technology, and representatives of the service organisation. Healthcare services in the United States are undergoing radical changes. Directed storytelling is useful for conducting research when the design team really has no other viable option for getting information, or when a team seeks a starting point for developing a more comprehensive a research plan. Directed storytelling is one method for quickly getting to the heart of the service experience.
