Description and Tasks
Patients often express their experiences in narrative, emotional, or anecdotal formats, which can be difficult to analyze systematically. To capture this knowledge and make it actionable for both experts and design teams, we propose a hybrid approach combining co-creation diaries with LLM-powered narrative structuring:
Co-Creation Diaries Patients log their ongoing experiences in structured or semi-structured formats, such as journals, audio/video snippets, or app-based entries. This allows real-time capture of insights as they occur naturally in daily life.
LLM-Mediated Narrative Structuring LLMs periodically process the diary entries to:
Extract key narrative elements.
Produce summarized personas, scenario maps, or experience timelines.
Present insights at multiple levels of abstraction (e.g., raw quotes, thematic summaries, and potential metaphors or other forms of encodings). This results in the design of a personalized diary.
Iterative Feedback Loop (a) Experts (either doctors or visualization experts) review the LLM-synthesized diary and provide guidance or refinements, which in turn can improve how future diary entries are processed. (b) Patients can also see how their input informs design decisions.
Evaluation Validate your approach through a small-scale longitudinal study conducted over a specified time frame.
Requirements
- Good knowledge of machine learning/AI (especially NLP/LLMs).
- Familiarity with UX research and participatory design.
- Potentially, familiarity with qualitative research methods (coding, thematic analysis, diary studies).
References
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-89996-w
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-024-09093-y