LIVING WITH DIABETES
Identifying the unmet needs and future wish-fors of people living with diabetes and their healthcare providers
Client
Roche
Company/Partner(s)
Stratos Innovation Group
Approach
Foundational (CoDesign) Research, Exploratory/Generative Design Research
Methods/Tools
Priming Homework, One-on-One Interviews (in-homes included), Projective Tools and Frameworks, Group Sessions, Experience Maps, Personas/Archetypes
OBJECTIVE
Roche’s Global Innovation team charged us with helping them to build a foundation of research, capturing key insights for various types of people living with diabetes (type 1 and 2) at different stages of their diabetes journey (pills, pens, pumps, etc.), the needs/expectations of healthcare providers, and shared/competing goals between patients and providers. Roche used our research findings to build empathy within their company for consumers and as a platform to explore new opportunities to expand their next generation of offerings, not only products but also new lines of service, education, and outreach.
OUTCOME
We created a breadth of visuals, at both macro and micro levels, which included: archetype and persona posters, patient experience maps (life journeys and day-in-the-life), healthcare provider workflow diagrams, and combined patient/healthcare provider needs maps.
An accumulation of this body of research has resulted in identifying patterns across patient and healthcare provider types. Unique insights into the behaviors, motivations, attitudes, and challenges of different archetypes and personas has provided Roche with not only insights for future business, marketing and product strategy, but more importantly, with a deeper understanding of the pain points, unmet needs, and aspirations of their customers.
PROCESS
As lead design researcher at Stratos, I led a number of projects with Roche to build a foundation of research for different types of people living with diabetes and healthcare teams that provide care to those individuals.
I conducted in-home interviews with patients, young and old, to understand their challenges at a day level (in context) and map their experience living with diabetes from pre-diagnosis to therapy transitions (e.g. pills to pens, pens to pumps), all the way to where they are today and where they hope to be in the future.
I co-facilitated workshops with patients to validate research findings (experience journeys) and build upon our knowledge of unmet needs and future wish-fors.
I conducted one-on-one interviews with a variety of healthcare providers (diabetologists, endocrinologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, and certified diabetes educators) to get a holistic understanding of the care system and a comparative picture of a patient’s care journey from diagnosis, through therapy transitions.
Personas and Patient/Clinician Experience Journey Maps
Visual deliverables were used to build empathy and engage internal teams in understanding relationships between different types of patients and healthcare providers. Collectively, they also served as strategic tools to communicate key moments, pain points, choices, and drivers within/across certain experiences to help Roche make more informed future business and design decisions.
