Digital innovation as design of digital practice: Doctors as designers in healthcare

Abstract

Medical professionals are increasingly assuming the role of maker and creator. At the same time, digital innovations, as part of evolving information infrastructures, are becoming increasingly prevalent in healthcare. In this paper, we adopt a Schönian approach to understand how a medical professional, who is not an IS designer by trade, engages in the design of digital practice — turning what may appear as a failed digital innovation effort into a successful design of digital practice. Our inquiry suggests three pragmatic principles that call for further investigation: (a) professionals can make a significant contribution to design work by inventing means for fact-based, reflective engagement with the situation; (b) the reorganization of work practice involves organizational design, information system design, and communication design; and (c) developing design as digital practice entails the development of fact-based design practice and must engage practical theories.