The Challenge
The worldwide-known CPR training manikin Little Anne was released 30 years ago. Since then the use model has changed dramatically. Training guidelines have changed and instructors’ business model has shifted to a more mobile setup. As the lead designer in this project, I was responsible for framing the problem correctly, testing hypotheses, concept and development work, user testing, design validation, and assisting in shaping the market narrative. This project has had sustainability embedded into the design process, weighing in viability, desirability, and feasibility decisions
The solution
The new Little Anne (2023) is a more compact and easily transportable CPR training manikin for BLS training. It eases the carrying, assembly, and maintenance for instructors without compromising the training quality and student learning outcomes. To help Laerdal’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030, Little Anne reduces 68% of the CO2 emissions compared to its predecessor.
But hey, what is CPR?
CPR – or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation – is an emergency lifesaving procedure performed when the heart stops beating. CPR can keep oxygenated blood flowing to the brain and other vital organs until more definitive medical treatment can restore a normal heart rhythm. Learn more
1 Is there anything that could harm me?
2 Is the victim responsive?
3 Call for help! Phone 112 and ask for an AED!
4 Is the victim breathing normally?
5 Press hard and fast at the center of the chest 30 times at the rythm of ‘Staying Alive’.
6 Give 2 rescue breaths. Look for the victim’s chest to rise. Repeat the 30:2 cycle.
7 Interrupt CPR if you get access to an AED. Turn it on and follow the commands.
8 Do not stop CPR! The ambulance is on its way!
Today, more than 50% of CPR courses happen at the customers’ location.
However, for instructors, commuting daily for your CPR courses does come with a set of challenges.
Your car must be huuuuge.
Instructors equipment takes a lot of space, some times requiring dedicated teams to handle logistics
Clean and assemble it in a rush.
It takes up to 30 min to get a class ready to start!
Generating tons of waste. Every. single. day.
Replacing airway systems every class is a must to prevent cross-contamination
Thus compromising the learner experience.
Transporting less or lower quality equipment dramatically reduces the learners’ experience and learning outcomes
Introducing the new
Little Anne
A 3x more compact, feedback-enabled manikin
Make your commuting a breeze
The suitcase with 6 manikins fits in a regular size trunk, with plenty of space for other educational materials. Rolling the 6 manikins (lighter than ever) won’t make you break a sweat.
A revolution in airway consumables
With this antibacterial and antiviral filter, changing airways systems is a thing of the past. Just pop the face out, click the filter in, and you are ready to roll. On top of that, the filter dramatically reduces the waste of plastics, and it costs a fraction of the price.
Ready in a blink
6 manikins can be ready in less than 3 minutes: Just click the faces in, insert the face skins and you are ready for the class!
Make your classes rock
Little Anne provides feedback on compression depth, speed, recoil, and rescue breath quality through the QCPR Feedback App, making your learners become competent and confident to save a life.
A more sustainable solution
While AED Trainer will both save instructor time and help trainees save lives, each device will also save resources. The AED Trainer design is part of Laerdal’s organization goal towards carbon neutrality and more circular solutions.
-68%
CO2 emissions
Compared to the previous generation Little Anne.
60%
recycled plastic content
All polypropylene (PP) plastic parts contain at least 60% post-consumer recycled PP.
Zero
Tools needed
To repair and maintain the product through its lifetime.
One
Manikin filter
The manikin filter is the only part that requires to be exchanged instead of the full airway system. It dramatically reduces waste and emissions.
The making-off
4 years of research and development are not easy to summarize. Countless customer interactions helped us create the most reliable user experience in layperson CPR training.
Embedding sustainability into the design process
How might we minimize the use of consumables while ensuring users’ willingness to maintain hygiene?
This is one of the questions that has driven the conceptual process of the new airway system. Despite seeing the amount of waste generated by the previous product, we wanted to make sure users adopt the new solution long-term. During the diverge process, we evaluated every single option against desirability, viability, feasibility, and sustainability. The latter was evaluated via a conceptual Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) that provided us with enough information to know which of the options has the approximate lowest carbon emissions. To evaluate its desirability, we conducted plenty of user tests, and interviews to make sure the desirability risks are minimized.
Among several alternatives, the antiviral filter was chosen, which was safe, cheap, extremely easy to use, and proved to be the most sustainable option: It is made entirely of polypropylene, which is a more easily and commonly recyclable material worldwide than PVC and in drastically much less amount than the previous lung.
Developing the most cost-effective yet realistic airway system
How can worldwide and varying user needs align with a fantastic user experience?
During the design and development of Little Anne, we found ourselves with the need to merge design and developer efforts for the airway system. This brought us the opportunity to really work on the intricacies of a product that goes ‘naked’ to the user’s eye (meaning they must disassemble it). This intersection enabled me to really dive into deep technical details while being able to validate my work with users. The number of interactions with users to truly validate all user requirements is however undoubtedly sky-high: expert interviews, user validation sessions, use of prototypes in CPR training classes, remotely managed tests…
Leading design research efforts
As a design lead for this project, I have been responsible to validate the desirability of the product. By setting up research questions, designing experiments, and measuring results, we manage to reduce desirability risks together with the tri-core team members.
For example, does the manikin suitcase need to be air-travel safe? By asking users how they currently conduct their courses and asking open-ended questions in CPR instructor groups on Facebook, we measured their responses and allowed us to design a product that is fitter for their purpose in a record time.
