Smile Again! Applying Design Thinking to Improve the Dental Patient’s Experience

Set in 2019, this case illustrates a design thinking intervention programme carried out at the Elite’s Smile Specialized Medical Complex in the city of Taif in Saudi Arabia. The programme was part of a doctorate research project undertaken at the Singapore Management University.

The case introduces Elite’s Smile, a private dental clinic that offers a comprehensive range of services including routine and complex treatments for adults and children. Despite being an established clinic with broad dental expertise and state-of-the-art equipment, Elite’s Smile faces great challenges in view of growing competition from new entrants and increasing service expectation from customers. The case discussion encourages the participants to evaluate whether design thinking, a human-centred problem-solving approach, would work in a small-and-medium enterprise (SME) and non-US context.

The handout describes the actual intervention programme conducted over six months at Elite’s Smile. At the centre of intervention is a training workshop covering the five-phase design thinking process and supporting tools for each phase. Notable improvements were observed at post-intervention in terms of increasing customer satisfaction (as seen in the patient retention and recommendation), a more cooperative work culture, and most importantly, growing income for the clinic. The instructor could use the handout to stimulate further discussion on why design thinking has worked for Elite’s Smile.

The learning objectives of this case are to (1) define the key concept of design thinking; (2) determine how choices are made in planning the intervention; (3) evaluate the changes in psychological and team variables from pre- to post-intervention; (4) articulate how a design culture can be created to foster cooperation and innovation; and (5) understand the mechanisms through which design thinking may work for research scholars and be aware of limitations in research design.

Inspection copies and teaching notes are available for university faculty. To receive an inspection copy and teaching note, please email cmpshop [at] smu.edu.sg with your registered faculty email ID and a link to your contact information on the faculty directory at your university as verification. An inspection copy and teaching note will then be sent to your faculty email account.

Download Information

SMU Faculty/Staff can download the case & teaching note on iNet with your SMU login ID & Password via the following links:

· The Case (SMU-20-0018)

· Teaching Note (SMU-20-0018TN)

· Handout (SMU-20-0018HO)

For purchase of the case and supplementary materials via The Case Centre, please access the following links:

· The Case (SMU-20-0018)

· Teaching Note (SMU-20-0018TN)

· Handout (SMU-20-0018HO)

For purchase of the case and supplementary materials via Harvard Business Publishing, please access the following links:

· The Case (SMU-20-0018)

· Teaching Note (SMU-20-0018TN)

· Handout (SMU-20-0018HO)