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Accessing insight from real-world evidence

How can we provide users with access to European real-world evidence and expand a company’s product portfolio?

Fig.1 - High fidelity representation of the final web application as an HEOR.

Through the design of a software application we were able to provide IQVIA’s clients with a tool that allows research analysis on European real-world evidence and introduced a new product to IQVIA’s portfolio helping to increase their position as a leader in Healthcare and Life Sciences.

The team

  • Kirill Dushkin — Product Owner
  • Tina Jovic — Marketing/Strategy
  • Dane Wesolko — UX Designer

The challenge

Directly related to the increased demand of healthcare data, multiple proprietary tools have appeared within the market space. These tools connect users to data sources which allows for a variety of use cases. While this model works incredibly well domestically, it does not satisfy the needs of a global team which requires international sets of data. The strict regulations related to the procurement of European healthcare information makes providing a solution difficult.

Fig.2 - Visualizations were an integral part of the design as users relied heavily on analyzing cohorts from different angles.

As an industry leader in Healthcare and Life Sciences, IQVIA saw an opportunity to develop a new product providing users with the ability to perform research analysis of European real-world evidence. By creating a new tool, IQVIA would be able to give clients a way to gain insight around clinical outcomes, treatment patterns, resource utilization, data source completeness and more. Working together with a London based internal product team I was tasked in designing a solution to tackle their issues.

Fig.3 - Users looked for ways to develop a variety of different strategies from product development to marketing.

Working through

Prior to engagement with IQVIA there had been an initiative to develop a new tool from services that are currently being offered. It was determined that the following functions and abilities were needed in the new offering:

  • Generate visualizations
  • Output research protocols
  • Assess data-source quality
  • Productize a service

Contracted as a User Experience Designer to lead the design my requirements were as follows:

  • Focus first on Health Economics Outcomes
  • Researchers (HEOR’s)
  • Use company initiatives as the constraint
  • Rely heavily on research to shape a user centered solution
Fig.4 - Annotated wireframes via LucidCharts allowed for cross-collaboration when teams were remote.

On-boarding and stakeholder interviews helped gain insight regarding a concept that was given as the starting point. Internal review sessions assisted in gathering feedback which helped shape overall ideas. A prototype was created using Justinmind, an interactive prototyping tool which then was used for gathering valuable research data. During the usability tests it was discovered that users:

  • Did not understand the context of the application
  • Had trouble performing and completing tasks
  • Wanted a high level overview on the home page
  • Needed clarity around core functionalities
  • Did not comprehend some of the verbiage

Brainstorming and digital whiteboarding sessions using LucidCharts, a cloud-based diagramming tool helped in forming new ideas. Those improvements let us work toward the vision and were incorporated into a new more robust and complete prototype. During this process we established a minimum viable product and concurrently began the development of a proof-of-concept henceforth POC.

A major milestone was reached when a fully functional prototype for HEOR’s was ready. The prototype was showcased at ISPOR 2018, a conference dedicated to health economics outcomes research where the product was launched.

Fig.5 - Wire framing and collaboration allowed us to explore a variety of ideas.

Work commenced with the next two user roles being Commercial Pharma and Hospitals / Registries. Following a similar process we began by reaching out to subject matter experts regarding a general understanding of users. All three user roles had similar requirements so we were able to rapidly build new prototypes with appropriate adjustments.

At the completion of the assignment no further work was contracted. Deliverables were provided and the engineering team continued implementation of their POC. Deliverables for this project were:

  • Low fidelity wireframes—ironing out concepts, layouts and page structures.
  • Interactive prototypes—communicating the vision and behavior of the apps.
Fig.6 - High fidelity mockup showing complete anonymized data, one of IQVIA's main advantages.

The results

Through our efforts we designed a functional prototype and POC for IQVIA of a software application to fit their needs. This application will give users access to European real-world evidence and allow them to:

  • Generate a variety of useful data visualizations
  • Output previously performed research protocols
  • Assess the quality and completeness of data sources

As a result it is expected that IQVIA will be able to increase its product portfolio and use the prototypes as a catalyst in reaching a year one sales target of $20 million.

Reflections

Being a proponent of user research if I were to approach this project differently it would be how information was gathered. Significant work went into creating a prototype before ideas were tested with potential clients. Conducting user interviews upfront would have better informed our team, the decisions we made and resulted in a user first design.