Simplify, then add lightness.

September 2, 2019 | Aged Care Management

Gear Change. A series by James Price. Fast information for when your time is poor, and you know the best time for change is now. 

 This series provides insight and advice with a focus on improving productivity and sustainability for aged care providers in Australia. A series that you can squeeze in during your lunch hour and then share the ideas with the rest of your team in the afternoon. 

Process design is a lot more interesting than at first it may seem. We see processes every day in our lives and often we question how they became so convoluted, so complex, so out of touch.

In my previous professional life, I helped design processes for a business from the ground up, from a blank sheet of paper if you like.

One of the designers in my team sought to build processes that were ‘elegantly simple’. In a sea of people who translated the value with complexity and confusion, it was a refreshing way to think and something that stuck with me for years.

Our approach at Mirus Australia is much the same. All of our technology systems have been designed with the end person in mind, following the process they need and co-designed with the people that will use the system. We are always excited to see how people use it, then test it, refine it and test again. In doing this we cover the majority of processes in our User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design and support more bespoke or complex tasks with advanced reporting. This helps our clients work smart, work faster and ultimately win.

The approach is not uncommon, and a favourite example comes from Lotus cars. Colin Chapman, the late founder of Lotus had a philosophy of making his cars “light.” He said we should aim to ‘simplify, then add lightness’ because if you just add power, then you might be fast in a straight line, but add lightness and you’ll be faster everywhere!

Lotus still use this philosophy today and build dynamic, light and rewarding motor cars for their target market. At Mirus Australia, we know our target market is Aged Care and that’s why we build elegantly simple solutions for the sector. Contact us to talk about cars or care of your own processes.

James Price, co-founder at Mirus Australia is a self-confessed petrol head. That is a person who is overly reliant on the use of their car and enjoys making a noise with it. James frequently shares a car analogy to explain a methodology, complex problem or an idea that has formed and with the goal of #makingagedcarebetter

More from the Gear Change series by James Price:

Risk + quality + for the love of spreadsheets by James Price

Biometrics + do we need them? by James Price

Fit for purpose: co-design in aged care by James Price