Cottage Health
Future of Women's Health Services
Architected a differentiated women's health vision for a 135-year-old legacy hospital — from ethnographic research across life stages to board-approved strategy.
- My role
- Senior Portfolio Director & Relationship Lead
- Timeline
- Jul 2025 – Jan 2026 · four phases
- Status
- Board approved; advisory engagement ongoing
- People
- IDEO team across ethnographic research, service design, and strategy
- Cottage Health clinical leadership, providers, and patients as co-creators
The challenge
How might a 135-year-old Santa Barbara hospital system reimagine and elevate women’s health — unifying medical excellence with a deeply human, purpose-driven journey?
My role
Senior portfolio director and relationship lead across all four phases, from the first research plan to the board presentation.
The work
We conducted ethnographic research with women across life stages, facilitated co-creation sessions with patients and providers, and synthesized everything into a future-state vision delivered as an interactive website — the Cottage Garden — alongside journey maps and a vision narrative.
The impact
The hospital board approved next steps, pilot implementation began, and the relationship continues as an ongoing advisory engagement. The work was selected for IDEO Creative Excellence recognition.