Next Generation Hemostasis:
Designing a family of lab analyzers for the future
The Project
Our client, one of the leaders in the laboratory diagnostics space, was beginning a long-term project to define their next generation platform of hemostasis analyzers. They needed to decide the number, specs, and capabilities for a family of analyzers sharing the same core technology, which would meet the needs of any size lab, worldwide. Our team was asked to take a deep look at global user needs, to understand how to deliver the greatest value and attain competitive advantages in the increasingly tight lab market space.
The Research Approach
We focused the research on three key areas: core U.S. and E.U. markets, as well as the emerging market in China. We spent approximately 5 weeks visiting labs of different types and sizes worldwide. In these visits, we focused on:
Contextual observation: We spent a day at each lab observing the entire process of hemostasis testing, "following the tube" and the technician from the time blood samples were received, through to dissemination of results to clinicians.
This allowed us to gain deep familiarity with the lab environments, the comprehensive testing workflow (and deviations), challenges, and areas for improvement.
In-depth interviews: We conducted interviews with a variety of lab stakeholders, including lab managers, technicians, and administrators/ purchase decision makers, to explore current processes, key value propositions, and user needs.
As Research Lead, I designed the protocol, managed the recruit of appropriate sites and participants, and led data collection and analysis.
Analysis & Synthesis
We carefully organized data and coded thematically, looking across regions, lab types, and patient bases. We then collaboratively explored patterns and trends, identifying challenges and needs, discerning explanatory factors and drivers, and highlighting opportunity areas. We then collaborated with the design team to visually communicate the data, including maps, charts, and videos.
Examples of analytic outputs included an in-depth workflow analysis which showed where we could meaningfully improve workflow and turnaround time, and a detailed set of lab operational drivers which explained the number and usage of analyzers- and showed how we could address current trade-offs through new designs.
Presentation & Workshop
We presented our findings in a day long workshop with approximately 20 client stakeholders from R&D and marketing. We then facilitated an ideation workshop, where we evaluated the opportunities with the stakeholders and developed early ideas and solutions.
We emerged with several early concepts for innovative platform structures to test in a subsequent round of research.
The Impact
The initial large-scale contextual effort sparked a series of additional research and design engagements with this client partner, in which we guided development of the next generation global platform. We further tested and refined the concepts, narrowing in on the number of device designs needed globally, implementation and automation options, and design specifications. We presented interim reports to executive leadership on several occasions, and findings heavily informed their yearly strategy meetings. Work informed the latest global platform release.
As one former product manager at the company said:
"Abbe's research allowed us to gain deep insight into user preferences and behavior, and uncover unmet needs....
The final deliverable was polished, insightful, and incredibly useful in informing our long term product planning and strategy, and general engineering/product development decisions. Her research provided concrete, real-world data that enabled the product management and marketing teams to gain buy-in from stakeholders across teams: engineering/ R&D, operations, QA and regulatory affairs. Furthermore our team was able to visualize and view the market landscape from a different perspective, enabling us to develop new, innovative solutions that are differentiating us from our competitors and ultimately providing significant value to our end users."