“Less is more”: A design thinking approach to the development of the agenda-setting conversation cards for people with type 2 diabetes

OBJECTIVES: To report a design-thinking approach to a user-centred agenda-setting tool for use in type 2 diabetes clinics. METHODS: The study followed design-thinking phases: emphasizing, defining, and ideating an intervention, followed by iterative user-testing of prototypes. It was conducted at a Danish diabetes center using observations, interviews, workshops, focus groups, and questionnaires. RESULTS: Nurses wanted to put more emphasis on agenda-setting in status visits. During brainstorms the idea of using illustrated cards that listed key agenda topics was proposed and became the goal of this research. Adopting a design-thinking approach provided the basis for developing prototypes for iterative user-testing that led to a version that was acceptable to stakeholders. The resulting tool, Conversation Cards, was a set of cards that listed and illustrated seven key topics that were considered important to consider during diabetes status visits. CONCLUSION: The goal of the Conversation Card intervention is to support collaborative agenda-setting in diabetes status visits. Further evaluation is needed to determine the utility and acceptability of the tool to nurses and to people with diabetes in routine settings. INNOVATION: This novel tool is designed to trigger agenda-setting conversations and thereby prioritize individuals' choice of topics to talk about during diabetes status visits.