Future of Healthcare
Research, Workshops, & Speculative Design / 2019
Summary
Challenge
We needed to spark new ideas for future of healthcare concepts, road-test our Innovation Lab workshop processes before bringing them to clients, and develop conversation-starters to develop proof of concepts we could use as sales tools with clients.
Outcome
We identified and aligned on future healthcare drivers and designed concepts that drove organizational priorities and were turned into prototypes, whitepapers, and sparks for further research.
Context
We wanted to elevate the role of design, establish new working relationships that connected design and technology, and bring together the unique insights and strengths from multiple departments to imagine paths forward together. Our workshop included designers, our healthcare senior sales team, the VP of Health, and the CEO.
Role
I conducted generative research, developed a three-day workshop with a team of four other designers, synthesized findings, developed the project management process to build out concepts, and created an experience vision and prototype for one of our concepts.
Process
Workshops
We developed a series of workshops to span 1.5 days, starting with problem framing to surface foundational understanding from our healthcare sales team, then mapping important drivers of the future and ideating on potential concepts.
We mapped past and future drivers during the workshop. Afterwards, I created a (very) rough timeline correlating drivers to STEEP areas and connected systemic implications.
Analysis
Featured Insights
The rise of predictive medicine & personalized approaches
Combining new technologies (AI, genomics), population health initiatives, and consumer attitudes, and systems.
Value & measurement of qualitative data and wellness
Interest in holistic approaches and mental health, measuring qualitative data, taking a wellness vs. sickness approach to understanding people.
Barriers to innovation often lie outside the technology sphere.
Structural issues – such as data interoperability and billing codes – keep new technology from implementation.
“One salesperson told the story of a doctor who used telehealth as part of a volunteer program to provide care access to remote Native American reservations. But due to insurance billing codes, she couldn’t offer that technology to her other patients.
Political barriers stood in the way of technology adoption in healthcare service.”
Outcome
Connected Care Concept
As a post-workshop output, we each spent a few hours on potential scenarios and prototypes to select two for further development as showcase pieces and technical capabilities after showing them to the workshop group and leadership team.
I focused on the problem of hospital readmission, a key scenario we identified during our workshops, and remote patient monitoring, combining a mobile interface with remote monitoring technology as a near-term piece to bring into sales meetings.
I developed a journey map, visit experience scenario for context, and mapped out other benefactors of the potential solution in the healthcare ecosystem.
Low-fidelity solution concept highlighting tech opportunities to present for further investment and design from the leadership team
Impact
Our biggest challenges were sustaining engagement and long-term thinking – one person initially scoffed at thinking or developing concepts for ideas more than two years out from a technological perspective. Conducting a ‘hopes and fears about the future’ exercise upfront helped alleviate the initial skepticism by allowing people to share their deeper personal perspectives around the topic area as a group. Mapping out future drivers helped people realize parts of the future were closer than they thought by surfacing everyone’s unique experience and expertise, as each participant focused on specific areas of the healthcare technology ecosystem.
Identifying these future areas also helped us figure out where we might be uniquely positioned as an organization so that we could identify high-value projects for the Innovation Studio backed by evidence and executive buy-in. These workshops also helped elevate the role of design at the organization within an engineering-focused firm and lean into the team’s broader expertise, as we later brought some of our healthcare experts in for a backcasting exercise for a client.
We also used concept prototypes to sell work to clients that integrated numerous teams, helping them think more broadly about potential solutions to pressing problems and driving new and expanded business.