Adaptive Environments for Healthcare & Beyond! Guest: Alex Tan, Philips (Season 4, Episode 2)

By: Janet Roche & Carolyn Robbins Hosted By: Janet Roche Edited by: Andrew Parrella Guest: Alex Tan, Design Innovation Director, Philips Photo Credit: Philips How did design innovations for the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) lead to groundbreaking changes for behavior health rooms in hospital Emergency Departments? The answer lies in new adaptive environments, and they are already making a difference to parents, staff and patients in these hospital areas. IDP talks to Alex Tan, Design Innovation Director at Philips about the process that led to creating these immersive spaces, and spoiler alert… co-design and collaboration were a part of their success. Guest: Alex Tan-  is the Design Innovation Director at Philips. According to his own bio, he is ‘a visionary thinker and leader with a diverse background that spans across many industries and design disciplines. His leadership style is very hands-on; he leads through example and inspiration. Alex and his multi-disciplinary design team collaborate with research scientists to invent and set the design vision and direction for the future of Healthcare, through a co-creation design process and prototyping’ “One of the key themes I look at is the idea of the adaptive environment – the idea that designs and environment can change and be more responsive to the different needs of different people.” – Alex Tan 2022 – References: • Alex Tan Bio/ Linkedin • Next Generation Neonatal Intensive Care Units • youtube video: LOTUS- Next Generation NICU • Re-imagining the Behavior Health Experience • Dutch Design Week- Virtual Talks- 2022 • Shaping Experiences Through Human-Centered Design • Lumi Plush Nightlight/Little Lantern Studios   Transcript: Adaptive Environments for Healthcare & Beyond! Guest: Alex Tan, Design Innovation Director, Philips (Music / Open) Janet: In this series we will be discussing specific examples of design techniques that make a positive difference for people living with certain human conditions. Carolyn: The more a designer understands the client and or the community the more effective and respectful the design will be. (Music / Intro) Janet: Welcome to Inclusive Designers Podcast, I am your host, Janet Roche… Carolyn: and I am your moderator, Carolyn Robbins… Janet: Carolyn, we have such a wonderful show today! But first, we are thrilled to announce that we are still in the top 20 on Feedspots’ list of “Best Design Podcasts on the Internet”— whoo!— and a big thank you to you, our listeners! Carolyn: yes, and it doesn’t surprise me at all, but I might be a little bit biased… and I think this episode should definitely keep us on that list. And with that news aside, we welcome you to our first podcast of 2023. Janet: Yes, moving right along, our guest today is Alex Tan, who is indeed creating a difference within the built environment, and using a collaborative and evidence-...