FlashBuild: Rapid, Patient-Partnered Co-Design for Safer Healthcare Systems
Kristen E. Miller, Meena Mandalapu, Bat-Zion Hose, Samantha Dargie, Kristin Flederbach, Kate MacRae, Chris Bonk, Laura Schubel, Steven Coffee, Ilene Corina, Rosie Bartel, Tamika Johnson, Ron Wyatt, Mary Herold, William Gent, Susan Raetzman, Shawn Jones, Paula Golladay, Maria Rodriquez, William Gallagher, Traber Giardina, Helen Haskell, Kelly M SmithCo-design is increasingly recognized as essential for developing safe, usable, and effective healthcare interventions. However, traditional approaches are often time- and resource-intensive, limiting their feasibility in fast-paced healthcare environments. We introduce FlashBuild, a rapid, patient-partnered co-design method designed to produce actionable outputs within real-world constraints. FlashBuild consists of three structured sessions conducted over approximately three weeks, engaging patients, clinicians, subject matter experts, and researchers in iterative cycles of problem framing, solution generation, prototyping, and refinement. Grounded in human factors engineering and sociotechnical systems thinking, the method emphasizes real-time prototyping, shared ownership, and practical application. FlashBuild provides a structured and feasible approach to embedding patient perspectives into healthcare design.