Immunoscience Patient Research & Journey Mapping
Led a cross-functional team in conducting foundational user research with immunoscience patients for a major pharmaceutical company. Mapped treatment journeys and identified key insights to inform downstream drug product and packaging development.
Project Info
Client: A Pharmaceutical Manufacturer
Time: 2019, 8 Months
Role: Co-Lead, Project Advisor, Team of 6
Project Overview
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The project commenced with a kickoff workshop and a series of internal stakeholder interviews, where we met with technical experts from across the organization working on projects related to the patient populations included in the study. This helped us better understand the learning objectives, assess the specific knowledge gaps to address in our study, and fine-tune our research approach.
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Given the desire to understand a broader context of care and account for day-to-day fluctuations in the patient’s outlook, we chose to engage patients and their caregivers virtually through a combination of mobile ethnography and web-assisted telephone interviews.
The mobile ethnography study was designed around a five-day engagement which included daily activities like a home tour and medication repertoire review, as well as daily journal activities to log their daily outlook. The interviews were used as a way to follow up and dig deeper with respondents.
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Following the fielding of our study came data analysis, where my team and I reviewed and organized a collection of over four thousand data points gleaned from the five-day mobile ethnography and sixty-minute interviews.
Information collected from our research was used to develop a series of patient journey maps (one for each disease state being studied) which provided a detailed account of the treatment pathways. We also mapped where drug and non-drug treatments intersected with the patient journey and highlighted relevant pain points and user needs across the journey.
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With preliminary journey maps developed, we then reengaged an extended client team to socialize our learnings and include internal experts in a content review activity. Through a series of intensive on-site workshops we helped the client team come together around our findings and unpack relevant opportunities for the business.
The project culminated in the delivery of three refined patient journey maps which continue to serve as foundational resources within several of the client’s business units. We also delivered a comprehensive insights and opportunity framing report with an opportunity framework, highlighting a prioritized list of technical, experiential, and strategic business opportunities to pursue going forward.
Key Takeaways
Illuminating a Rocky Path to Diagnosis
In conducting our research, many of our participants spoke of sudden, unexplained, and often embarrassing symptoms that came with their disease. Making it all the worse was the inability to receive an accurate diagnosis and effectively manage their autoimmune condition.
While this portion of the overall treatment journey is short, patients are emotionally sensitive and vulnerable at this time. Identifying ways to make the diagnosis process smoother while addressing the patient’s emotional and social concerns can dramatically impact the patient experience.
Peeling Back the Layers of Healthcare Equity
By discussing chronic disease management with patients at various life stages, belonging to different cultural and socioeconomic groups, we began to gain perspective on how these conditions and their treatment impact people differently.
By telling the stories of our research participants and engaging the client team in discussions around the social determinants of health, we were able to help the client understand the broader context of care.
Challenges
Staying Organized to Drive Multiple Datastreams
In many ways, this project was like running three journey mapping projects in parallel, where we had three disease states, each with its own research, analysis, and reporting work streams. Staying organized was crucial and pushed us to keep the datasets separate and work in ways that allowed team members to drop into other parts of the project where needed.
Bringing Data & Empathy While Recognizing Expertise
Another challenge I faced as a workshop moderator was one of balance. I needed to stand in front of a room of client stakeholders and speak as an expert, helping them to understand and empathize with the patients we had studied. Simultaneously, I also needed to empower my audience, asking our client experts to roll up their sleeves and help connect our findings to technical and business opportunities.