Consulting
Healthcare begins where people gather
Details
We began by listening.
Research & Discovery
Through more than 30 interviews with executive directors, librarians, healthcare leaders, and community members, patterns emerged around trust, accessibility, and systemic friction. Libraries were already operating as informal support hubs — assisting with insurance forms, job searches, digital literacy, and social services.
The central design question became: how might we formalize this quiet role without compromising the integrity and openness of the space?
Systems Design & Framework
We mapped user journeys across healthcare access points and identified where libraries could serve as stabilizing intermediaries: offering Telehealth access rooms, AI-assisted health navigation kiosks, and privacy-forward digital support tools.
The result was a systems-level framework positioning libraries as preventative health touch-points, civic architecture capable of supporting community wellbeing without building new institutions from scratch.
This project reframed infrastructure as coordination.
Details
We examined how public libraries quietly operate as trust infrastructure within their communities.
Discovery
Rather than viewing libraries as passive civic buildings, we analyzed them as active nodes within broader social systems. Libraries are among the few institutions that remain open, trusted, and accessible across socioeconomic boundaries. That positioning created an opportunity.
We studied how individuals move through healthcare access, from information seeking to public services available, and identified moments where friction, confusion, or digital barriers interrupt continuity. Libraries were uniquely positioned to reduce those breaks.
The design work focused on strengthening existing trust rather than imposing new systems. By integrating telehealth capability, guided digital navigation, and privacy-conscious support structures into familiar spaces, we created a framework that expands healthcare access through coordination, not construction.
This project repositioned civic space as latent healthcare infrastructure, ready to be activated with thoughtful design.
Related work
