I am a Dallas-based physician turned designer interested in making care delivery services and experiences equitable, accessible, and enjoyable for both care receivers and providers. I learn, think and communicate visually. Fascinated by every aspect of design, from design research to visual design to service design and committed to improving healthcare, I serve as a vital liaison between the fields of design and health. Please check out the skills and tools section to see what I bring to the table. In my free time, I make clay models, cook Indian food, and read books.
DOCTOR. DESIGNER. DOER.
"Nirali is everything our next generation of designers in health should be - analytical & inquisitive, yet incredibly thoughtful & reflective. From design research to service design to systems design, she truly adds value to every part of the design process. I am continually impressed by Nirali's ability to merge her dual backgrounds in medicine and design in pursuit of creating positive change in healthcare settings. She is an irreplaceable designer & teammate on any project."
- Stephanie Morgan, Design Researcher at the Design Institute for Health
SPECIAL INTEREST
I still remember the day I learned female reproduction physiology for the first time. After that, all I ever wanted to do was learn more about it which led me to apply for medicine and secure a full scholarship to study it for free. While my seniors and textbooks satisfied my scientific curiosity and ultimately helped me get a gold medal in OB-GYN. I am actually more grateful to all the female patients I interacted with during my 5.5 years of clinical training. They not only made me a well-grounded, empathetic, and strong human being but also inspired me to find and follow my true passion of improving clinical care through design. If you are an org working on women's health in India, first kudos to you. Second, please reach out to me. I want to work with you. I have a to lot offer, and I would do anything and everything that my circumstances allow me to contribute to your work.
SKILLS & TOOLS
I am a physician turned service design practitioner (will receive accreditation by Service Design Network in Jan' 22) striving to improve healthcare delivery services through design and innovation. I use various service design tools, such as mapping (stakeholders, services, experience, and journey), service blueprint, business model canvas, and scenario building... to align business goals with users' needs and effectively communicate current and future service systems to clients.
I have been studying and practicing systems thinking for the last two years, including learning theoretical concepts through Fritjof Capra's textbook and course to practicing it at the Design Institute for health through various systems design projects. I use various systems design tools, such as causal loop diagrams, stock and flow diagrams, systems archetypes, stakeholder analysis, systems leverage map, behavior over time graphs, and ecosystem mapping... to bring larger context and meaningful depth to the project.
As a curious and compassionate person, I enjoy learning about other humans' how, what, and most importantly, why. I mastered my design research skills through User Research – Methods and Best Practices and fieldwork and anthropology for design courses. I use various design research tools, such as semi-structured interviews, contextual inquiries, cultural probs, video ethnography participatory design activities, surveys, AEIOU framework, affinity diagraming, and thematic analysis... to collect and make sense of rich qualitative users' data.
I am a proud alum of Harvard School of Medicine's Media and Medicine: How to Tell Stories that Make a Difference and Shillington School of Design's graphic design programs. I use various visual design tools, such as Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Captivate, Animaker, Kumu, Figma, and Sketch... to design interactive, informative, and thought-provoking visual stories.
I am interested in working at the intersection of healthcare, design, and technology to build patient-centric and provider-friendly software that reduces the burden and improves the experience. So far, I have collaboratively designed a web portal to make clinical research accessible to patients, developed Alexa skills, digitalized Medicaid provider training, and prototyped an AR app for patients' notes.
I learned futures thinking and strategic foresight from Dr. Jake Dunagan and Professor Glass during my master's program. I use various systems design tools, such as causal layered analysis, the three horizons model, speculative design, STEEP Analysis, backcasting, visioning, and scenarios... to provoke conversation and generate insights into how and why the future might be different from today.
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