Innovation Factory – A Profile of the Winning Team. PULSE: The Neighborhood Solution That Brings People Together
FERNFH’s Innovation Factory is a hands-on learning format in which students in the Master’s program in Digital Health Management develop innovative solutions to real-world societal challenges—while strengthening key future skills for the healthcare sector of tomorrow.
In apartment buildings, people live right next door to one another but often barely know each other. Thomas Fister, Anna-Maria Weidhofer, and Mehtap Spiric took this very phenomenon as the starting point for their work—and won first place at the INNOVATION FACTORY. Their project: PULSE.
The Problem: Closeness Without Connection
In apartment complexes, communication is usually limited to notices posted on bulletin boards. Anyone who wants to know what their neighbors are interested in or whether they’re open to making contact has almost no way of finding out—and those seeking contact often don’t know how to take the first step. The team explored this issue in greater depth through a structured research phase and a HYHYVE workshop, which revealed how differently various types of residents experience this social distance.
The Solution: Make Your Availability Clear
“The focus is on making the often most difficult step—the initial contact—easier, safer, and suitable for everyday use by making residents’ willingness to interact visible without infringing on their privacy,” the team explains. To achieve this, PULSE bridges two worlds: A central “Houseboard” in the entryway complements a mobile app. This allows residents to anonymously and in a controlled manner signal whether they are open to interacting with their neighbors—without feeling pressured to do so. Those who prefer not to use digital tools are not excluded: “It should also be clear to them that community within the building is possible.”
Lessons Learned from the Process
Prototyping and testing had a particularly profound impact on the team: “Even minor ambiguities at the outset had a major impact on the user experience. At the same time, it was surprising to see how much even small adjustments can improve clarity and acceptance—this showed us just how valuable real user feedback is compared to internal assumptions.”
– Thomas Fister, Anna-Maria Weidhofer, and Mehtap Spiric, Team PULSE
About the Innovation Factory
PULSE is one of several teams that have developed practical innovations at the intersection of health, digitalization, and sustainability as part of the INNOVATION FACTORY. The program is part of FERNFH’s “Digital Health Management” master’s program and specifically prepares students to act effectively in complex, rapidly changing contexts.
