Medical apparel designed with the athlete in mind.

This group project focused on medical apparel was birthed in the University of Oregon’s Sports Product Management Master’s program.  We were tasked with creating a product that we intend to bring to market within our time in the program.  While we have several high-level athletes on our team, the sports world is not the only place in which high performance is a necessity.  Our goal is to reinvent medical apparel from a performance lens.  We began by focusing on consumer research to uncover insights into the experience of nurses and other healthcare professionals.  Performance is key in the high pace, high stakes world of medical professionals.  Any improvement in the experience of healthcare professionals could lead to improved morale and output.   After a series of interviews, we found many nurses upset with several key qualities of their scrubs including performance, fit, storage, and sustainability.

We designed the initial sketches with the consumer needs in mind.  The fit will resemble that of high-performance athletic apparel so the wearer will be comfortable moving throughout their shift.  We intend to equip it with high performance stretch material that has been treated with an antiviral gold finish that will act as an additional layer of armor for our professionals.  The paneled top layers are designed to increase breathability in covered areas while waterproof panels protect the wearer in high splash areas.  This combination is meant to offer the consumer breathability and liquid resistance without trade-off.  Along with building a product we began crafting a brand Identity.  There are some unique challenges in starting a company based around an industry that none of the team are actively a part of.  We again must use our consumer research to make sure we are speaking from a place of authenticity.  Every aspect of our brand must represent the healthcare workers first and foremost.