Health Tech Matters: Talks About Healthcare Products and Design

Hi guys, and welcome to Health Tech Matters. Today our guest is Annie Liu, senior UX researcher at Ada health, applied anthropologist. Listen to the first part of our conversation in the previous episode. Our guest, Annie Liu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liuannies/ _______ My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

Hi! My name is Mary and I am a healthcare product designer. In this season of Health Tech Matters, I will be talking to product designers, researchers, and branding experts in healthcare startups such as Ada Health, Babylon Health, and many more. We will be discussing the frameworks design teams use, their processes, and measuring success.  Subscribe and Stay tuned! _______ My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

In this episode, we are discussing how stories can engage caregivers, improve care and reduce turnover, and how a gamified app can help build connections in the family. MemoryWell is a digital platform that uses life storytelling to improve the care of elders. Using their network of more than 700 professional writers, they work with families, senior living communities and home- and community-based providers to replace burdensome intake questionnaires with brief, intimate stories.  Jay Newton-Small: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-newton-small/ MemoryWell: https://www.memorywell.com/ ______________  How to find me? Maria Borysova: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

In this episode, we are talking about employee mental health, 6 pillars of wellbeing and healthy company culture. Our guest is James Dashwood, Head of Wellbeing at BetterSpace, an employee wellbeing platform. BetterSpace: https://www.betterspace.uk/ Please rate us on podcasting platforms 💙

Welcome our guest, Alex Mandel from Omada Health, ex-Google. Alex Mandel is a designer, researcher, and product strategist. A sneak peek into this episode: - "With the additional bureaucracy, there are additional resources and you can, in some ways, solve bigger problems or at least have more resources behind aiming at these problems." - "The tactic that we take is if you're in a lower motivational quality, the first thing that we need to do is raise your motivational quality. Ideally shifting from what we called, like extrinsic motivation, a financial reward, or whatever to the intrinsic motivation "I want to do this, so I can go on that bike ride" for instance. - "We have managed to distribute ownership over the team processes across the team. There's actually only one design meeting that I lead." Our guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-mandel-12a52035/ _______ My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

Today our guest is Marek Kultys, director of User Experience at BenevolentAI, an AI drug discovery company. He designed products for clinical decision-making and reporting, for finding, sharing, and visualizing biomedical data, for running clinical trials, and for portable DNA research. A sneak peek into this episode: - "In the biomedical context, our users always want to see more. We try not to filter and assume what might be useful, what might not be useful from the user perspective, the default option from a design side would be to list everything that we know." - "Sometimes we ask our users to just sketch and then build on top of their ideas. Some of them are so wild that we wouldn't be able as designers to even come up with these things. Those ideas come from the understanding deeper understanding of the data." Our guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marek-kultys _______ My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

Hi guys, and welcome to Health Tech Matters. Today our guest is Nicole Cassese, Copy Lead, Content & Brand at BetterUp, ex-Headspace Standards Editor. A sneak peek into this episode: - "Vulnerability is a strength and you're not being weak by taking care of yourself. If you're in a better state of mind and a better state of being, you're going to be able to be there for everything else." - "It's a marathon. It is not a race. We're going to be working for many, many years of our lives. So enjoy it!" - "At the beginning of every single week, I make sure that any free time that hasn't been built into a meeting is then thrown into a writing block so that people don't overbook it. If I don't keep the writing time, then I won't have that time to get in the zone and do the best work that I can." Our guest, Nicole Cassese: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-cassese _______ My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

Hi guys, and welcome to Health Tech Matters. Today our guest is Dan Kenger, VP of Design at hims & hers. In this episode we are discussing: - creative processes in the team - decision making - routines to track team progress - feedback sharing and many more! Our guest, Dan Kenger: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-kenger-5ba23b12/ _______ My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

Hi guys, and welcome to Health Tech Matters. Today our guest is Liam Carter-Hawkins, Ex Lead Product Designer at Babylon Health. Listen to the first part of our conversation in the previous episode. Our guest, Liam Carter-Hawkins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamcarterhawkins/ _______ My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

Hi guys, and welcome to Health Tech Matters. Today our guest is Liam Carter-Hawkins, Ex Lead Product Designer at Babylon Health. In this episode we are discussing: - offline user testing, pros and cons - international expansion and its challenges - measuring the success of a new product - design sprints and many more! Our guest, Liam Carter-Hawkins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamcarterhawkins/ _______ My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

Hi guys, and welcome to Health Tech Matters. Today our guest is Annie Liu, senior UX researcher at Ada health, applied anthropologist. In this episode we are discussing: - frameworks to prioritize user research findings - reflections about the past experience and how to make it work - stakeholder engagement - measuring UX research - implementation of the research findings and many more! Our guest, Annie Liu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liuannies/ _______ My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

In this episode, we are discussing glucose monitoring, wearable injectors, and product testing. Our guest: David Flinner, Co-Founder of Levels. Levels provide users with a constant glucose monitor (CGM) patch that attaches painlessly to the arm and can do real-time metabolism tracking via an app. Levels website: https://www.levelshealth.com/ ______________ - We tend to launch things that are very early and get feedback. For instance, on Monday we launched a new sharing feature. I emailed all of our members to ask what they thought and I got a lot of feedback and we're launching a new version with a much improved different sharing functionality today. - A big strategy of ours has been content and the content strategy is that we want to be true thought leaders in the space of metabolism for the general populace. There really isn't a lot of research on metabolism outside of diabetes management out there. - One of the things that really drives our remote culture is this idea of asynchronicity. So whether it's an email or a Slack or anything the expectation is always that the person won't respond right away. You have to plan ahead making sure that you supply all the details that you might need when that person finally gets to it. And I think that's been a really big key to our remote culture is not relying on people to be there in real-time. And then coming up with tools that fit into that new framework. So we'll do video chats as well, but oftentimes they're video recording. So we'll trade back and forth video recordings with loom. Of course, we do have some synchronous meetings, but it's usually the exception rather than the rule.  ______________ How to find me? Maria Borysova, healthcare product designer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

In this episode, we are discussing genetics and skincare, the Asian skincare market, and skin testing. Our guest: Pétronille Houdart, Skincare Director at Sequential Skin. Sequential Skin is a diagnostic company that takes an in-depth look at how nature (genetics) and nurture (skin microbiome) interact. Their Sequential Skin Test assesses the genetic predisposition to certain traits and how skin microbiome and present environment influences them.  Website: https://www.sequentialskin.com/  ______________  How to find me? Maria Borysova, healthcare product designer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/  ______________  Quotes from the episode:  On Asian beauty market  The beauty industry is a very big thing in Singapore and Singaporeans are eager to invest in their appearance and consumer are quite adventurous and open to trying a new beauty product. So yet the local population is quite small because it's around the 5 million people that the country has a significant expatriate community. So because of its multicultural society, Singapore represents an ideal testing ground for us, where we can reach the different ethnic groups and conduct pilots on different skin types. Of course, the population is little. To reach out to more consumers we are forced to expand quickly overseas as well.   ______________  On skincare trends  We believe that with the rise of skin conditions, including skin sensitivity with more environmental pollution, aging population projects that focus on the microbiome health will be prominent for years to come.  ______________  On personal skincare  I think by reducing our amount of product, we apply every day, choosing a product with a short ingredient list is key for our longevity. And that's also why we recommend to our user original of only three products to simplify their skincare regimen.

In this episode, we are discussing nutrition trends, hypothesis testing, and primary market research. Our guest: Josh Hix, CEO at Season, ex-founder of a meal delivery startup Plated. Plated was acquired by a grocery store chain Albertsons Companies for $300 million. Website: https://helloseason.com/ ______________ How to find me? Maria Borysova, healthcare product designer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/ ______________ Quotes: On nutrition nowadays "It's inevitable that we get to a state where nutrition is integrated into healthcare because it's just such a foundational part of treatment, especially of chronic illness, which seems to be pretty universally accepted as the most expensive part of the system. You have this intervention that not only works from a clinical standpoint and from a cost standpoint but also makes the patient feel better. Unlike some other kinds of interventions, there's a quality of life improvement." ______________ On starting a new company after selling Plated  "I don't think most people are actually very happy doing nothing. Just sitting on the beach literally, or metaphorically is not a particularly appealing option. I didn't want to go be a full-time investor, obviously, lots of entrepreneurs do or so. And I liked building products and companies. It feels like the best way to use my time. Both selfishly from a personal fulfillment and enjoyment standpoint and also hopefully from a positive impact on other people standpoint." ______________ On a personal message "All of us, myself included to a very real degree live in our own echo chambers. It makes it hard to listen to each other." ______________ On timing and market "The old cliche of being early is the same as being wrong. Like forget about being unpleasant and not fun, it's not effective to work on something where the market's not there yet. Whether it's the technology or the regulatory environment or consumer adoption, or some combination of all three of them, you've got to have the right market conditions. Otherwise, you're just pushing on a rope. It's not going to go anywhere and that's not effective for anybody. It's not a good use of time or capital or anything else."

In this episode, we are discussing what's so unique about the mental health programs for students, and early product adopters, and user engagement. Our guest: Katherine Grill, PhD, CEO & Co-founder at Neolth. Neolth provides on-demand, individualized mental health support for the 40 million high school and college students in the US. Website: https://www.neolth.com/ ______________ How to find me? Maria Borysova, healthcare product designer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/ ______________ Quotes from the episode: On mental health program for students vs adults Students are digital natives, they digest content differently. There are typical psycho-education and Coursera style modules that we've seen in some adult digital mental health platforms and they do not work well with the youth. They're used to YouTube, they're used to Tik Tok. They want short, digestible content that's really eye-catching and that's going to grab their attention, and they want things personalized and personalized in real-time. So everything from the language that you're using to the content that you're giving them is really going to be different on a youth mental health platform versus an adult mental health platform. ______________ On self-care tracking Something else that we've found that works really well is self-care tracking.  And a lot of times youth and adults feel like, well, it doesn't count, I'm hanging out with my friends, I'm playing video games, I'm reading a book. All of these things can be a great way to relax and take care of your mental health. But because it's not a CBT or therapy or meditation, sometimes people think "well, it can't be helpful to my mental health. It doesn't really count." And that's just not accurate. On our platform, we are encouraging them to identify what they do for self-care. Like I said, whether it's exercise or video games, tracking that as well as much as you can.  Showing the youth, that there are lots of different ways beyond what's popular to improve your mental health and take care of yourself and that all of those things count and that they should be able to track those things and get credit for them. I think that can be really helpful. ______________ On finding your first customers There's always going to be someone who's an early adopter. Especially for schools, there's a lot around the network effect and their reputation and who's innovative in this space, and who's supporting students, especially this year, around mental health.  That can not only be a way to improve the student's experience who are already enrolled at the school but perhaps a way to attract new students. There will always be some schools who say "I don't want to try this until 100, 500, 1000 other schools" are doing it." But then there will always be those people who are the early adopters and who want to be the first or who want to be one of the first. So the key, I think, is just finding those early adopters and then building that good relationship with them.

In this episode, we are discussing how artificial intelligence can be used for mental health treatment, pricing models and hypothesis testing. Quotes from the episode: On AI in mental healthcare I realized that some of the cognitive restructuring exercises that I found in self-help models online were very good. So the initial idea was: "Can we make AI listen, sympathetically?". When you're typing out what you're feeling, you're accepting that feeling. Then you're learning to say. And Wysa asks some really nice questions "Do you want to get back control in the situation?", "How can you be a good friend to yourself?". It forces you to think about it, but you do all the work. ___________ On B2B vs B2C healthcare products My hypothesis is that there is a path because healthcare is so difficult to break into and it takes so long to break into and they want evidence and they want some validation. It's much, much easier to start in B2C. I know that B2B is easier than B2C. Because you can do an iterative experiment in B2C, which you cannot do in B2B because they need you to have proven everything before they even start working with you.   You start in B2C, you get that fast cycle of iteration that a product manager absolutely needs to get their product right. You get to hear directly from the users. You get to hold on to your mission and your sense of purpose, which in B2B really vanishes fast when you're not working directly with users.  I think B2C is easier in some ways if you get product-market fit and once B2B takes off, revenue is easier, but getting the product right in B2B is very hard. ___________ About energy The construct that we're trying to manage time and there's not enough is such a lie. We are trying to manage energy. And if you have energy, then everything feels good. If you don't have energy, all the time in the world will not yield anything. ___________ On the future of mental health applications I'm seeing a convergence of biomarkers where people are tracking their own mental health or physical activity or heart rates and stress levels. So there's definitely a quantified self that is coming into mental health. ___________ Our guest: Jo Aggarwal - Founder/CEO at Wysa - clinically approved AI chatbot for mental health, 3 million users. Her LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joaggarwal/ Wysa: https://wysa.io/ ___________ How to find me? Maria Borysova, healthcare product designer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

In this episode, we are talking about joyful therapy, actionable steps for behaviour change, and how to keep patients motivated for a long time. Quotes from the episode: 1. "I think the most important thing when it comes to behavior changes that it's personal, that clients are excited to change and there's some energy there for them. I am really looking at where's the excitement, where's the spark. Once you build confidence, by following those things that you are motivated to change, then bigger and more complex things become more manageable." 2. "It is a huge aspect of our coach approach to celebrating the tiny wins, big wins, the step that was taken because it activates the reward circuitry of the brain and ultimately helps to keep the motivation going and it's fun together. The other piece of it is, sometimes the change process might seem heavy or difficult and there's this real inclination towards having fun, through it all and not getting overwhelmed by the weight of it all. I would say the celebration piece really helps to bring lightness into the mix." 3. "We don't really integrate all the experiences that we're having. Being able to have some tools to express the emotions, to name them, to process them, and metabolize as experiences can be useful. And so for some people, it could be journaling and saying "Here are some of the experiences I had today. What do they bring up for me? That insight I was feeling... Oh, I didn't realize I was still feeling some of this from that experience!" 4. "It's hard to delineate work life from home life from other life. And it's one thing that I find really helpful is to take time to reset in the day between when I might be going from working hours to home hours with my family or my friends, or with a passion project that I have.  You could think of it as a transition reset to bring more presence into this moment intentionally. "Okay. I know there's always gonna be more things to do. And right now I'm going to be choosing this. I'm going to be focusing my energy on these things to be able to really create a mindful transition." 5. "I'm a huge advocate of creating a sacred space. It can be something very simple, but that is a place that you can go to when you need to reset. What makes the place sacred is the energy we bring to it. So being able to design a little area where we can go and have our quiet time or check-in time, or mindful moments is key." Our guest: Rebecca Thieneman, VP of Nutrition and Health Coaching at digital food and nutrition platform Monj Health, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rthieneman. ___________   How to find me? Maria Borysova, healthcare product designer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

In this episode, we are discussing the ways how to make remote user interviews insightful, chronic conditions treatment and prototyping on the fly. London-based Second Nature is an online weight loss plan that helps clients to make long-term healthy lifestyle changes. They are used and trusted by the NHS. João Araújo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juauz Second Nature: https://www.secondnature.io/ ______________ How to find me? Maria Borysova: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

In this episode, we are discussing different types of motivation and encouraging physical activity using gamification and tangible rewards. Sweatcoin turns your daily steps into sweatcoins, a unique digital reward you can spend to support a good cause or buy products and services from more than 500 top brands around the world. Sweatcoin has more than 40 million registered users in 42 countries. The British Journal of Sports Medicine found that Sweatcoin users demonstrate a sustained +20% uplift in daily stepcount even after 6 months from install. The uplift is even more pronounced for overweight users. Christine Tsai: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinemtsai/ Sweatcoin: https://sweatco.in/ ______________ How to find me? Maria Borysova: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

In this episode, we are talking about monitoring the wellbeing of a team automatically based on the conversations and mental health support in small and big companies. Our guest is Danielle Owen Whitford, a founder of Pioneera, an AI platform to predict and prevent workspace stress. Pioneera uses AI and psychology to prevent burnout, by reducing stress and promoting wellness. Their bot helps you see the early warning signs and take action before it's too late. Danielle Owen Whitford: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-owen-whitford/ Pioneera: https://www.pioneera.com/ ______________ How to find me? Maria Borysova: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/