For us at Aspect, this recognition feels particularly special. Not just because of the achievement itself, but because of what sits behind it.
The nomination centres around our Healthcare Simulation Suite, a space Abi developed to solve a challenge that many in healthcare research will recognise immediately. How do you observe real clinical behaviour, when the environment itself doesn’t feel real?
It’s a problem that has existed for years.
Access to NHS settings is understandably limited, and alternative options often fall short. Hotel rooms, hired spaces and adapted facilities can work, but they rarely capture the pressures, workflows and familiarity of a true clinical environment. And when the setting doesn’t feel right, behaviour changes. Clinicians pause where they wouldn’t usually pause. They think about actions that would normally be instinctive. The insight gathered can still be useful, but it isn’t always a true reflection of real-world use.
Rather than creating something staged or decorative, the focus was on building a space that feels genuinely familiar. A full-scale clinical environment that can be configured to reflect different healthcare settings, from operating theatres to consultation rooms, with the detail and layout clinicians expect in their day-to-day roles.
It’s designed so that participants don’t have to think about the environment. They can simply get on with the task and that’s where the real value lies.
When clinicians feel comfortable, behaviour becomes instinctive. When behaviour is instinctive, the insight becomes more reliable. And when insight is more reliable, clients can make decisions with greater confidence.
Since launching, the suite has supported countless healthcare studies, including usability testing, medical device development and clinical simulation. For many clients, it has opened up research that would otherwise have been difficult to deliver within traditional constraints. It has also allowed studies to be run more efficiently, without compromising on the level of realism required for high-quality healthcare insight.
Abi's pioneering work in developing our healthcare suite being recognised through the AQR Pioneer Award is a reflection of that.
Not just the space itself, but the thinking behind it. A belief that research environments should support real behaviour, not shape it. That detail matters. That context matters.
At Aspect, that’s what we’re always working towards, creating spaces that don’t just look the part, but genuinely help research work better.
This recognition is something we’re incredibly proud of. And for the clients and researchers who use the Healthcare Simulation Suite, it’s a reassurance that the space they’re working in has been designed with exactly that goal in mind.
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