Finding Emotional Delta: Applying Design Research to New Ends In Healthcare Innovation
Constraints are crucial for relevant innovation and serve as a lens by which to evaluate the success of the products and services we make. Emotive product constraints are rarely considered, or are considered secondarily and vaguely in terms of delight. In this post, I describe a framework — emotional delta — for understanding and evaluating the emotive aspects of product differentiation. I then cite examples of health tech companies that are in various stages of winning market share because of it. Finally, I address how you can figure out what emotional delta is in the context of your product.
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Emotional delta — your new innovation constraint
Emotional delta is the relative difference in emotional response your current solution triggers in your users compared to what your users wish they felt. Given their context, these emotions will differ. For example, a user of a consumer application may want to feel connected or heard instead of isolated; meanwhile, a user of back office business software may instead wish to feel competent and fast.
Focusing on emotional delta will lead you to create new products and features that bring delight secondarily in context of use, because emotional delta focuses you first and foremost on helping users achieve their emotive goals. A specific example from my current work may be helpful. At Thinktiv, I’m working to design the future of healthcare staffing software that touches candidate search, credentialing, and scheduling workflows. The recruiters with whom I’m working want to feel efficient as they search for candidates that match jobs across the US. There are specific UX patterns that we can utilize related to literally being more efficient; we can also provide UI indications of just how efficient they’re being; and we can provide more temporal indications such as email summaries related to their efficiency, or tips and tricks to improve efficiency in the future.
These are just a few of many ideas that we are currently in the process of prototyping. Evaluation against the emotional delta can be more complex, but at its core is related to having your users give subjective ratings based on how efficient the design makes them feel, and then either throwing away the concept or improving it until users definitively identify with the desired emotional state.
Why focusing on emotional delta works.
In the health tech context (and others, although this is my passion), it is often common to see companies or entrepreneurs start with a technology to solve a problem, while missing on the experience design that addresses emotional goals. This generates adoption risk.
Behavioral economics has changed how we approach our understanding of people and why they act the way that they do; in making decisions, humans are driven by emotions and their contexts, not necessarily their logical selves. These mechanisms and motivations are well documented in books such as Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow by Daniel Kahneman and Switch by Chip and Dan Heath.
In the context of product, the emotive and rational/functional aspects of a solution should be intertwined. In the context of market, differentiation and customer velocity come from the way use makes someone feel.
Examples of successful health technologies and services that are differentiated and winning markets because of it.
Following is a simple analysis of what differentiates just a handful of today’s companies, from early stage start-up to a well-established player.
Docent Health = Concierge medicine + (Voiceless -> Heard)
The concept of offering concierge service based on a medical procedure is not entirely new, but the structure that Docent employs in order to gather a patient’s wishes and take them into account of the care plan seems unique. Docent is on its series A and has received $17.1M in total funding to date.
Omada Health = Weight Management + (Lame -> Inspired and Supported)
Omada is one of the first digital chronic health companies to gain major traction in the market. It has done so by modeling its service off of best practice research, while also considering intricate service design details that keep participants inspired and supported over time. Not to mention, it feels modern and hip. This approach has led to patient engagement and clinical results, which in turn has driven it’s market value and sales cycles. Omada is on it’s Series C of funding and has received a total of $126.5M of funding to date.
Propeller Health = Smart Inhaler + (Confused -> Educated)
Propeller health combines data about patient behavior with geolocation and atmospheric data to present data to patients around their triggers, as well as anticipating and reminding when they’ll need to use inhalers next. This type of education is contextual, relevant, and appreciated by both patients and investors. Propeller Health is on its Series C and has received $49.9M in funding to date.
Sun Basket — Meal kits + (Generic -> Customized)
While other meal kit companies are fading from competition or are being acquired, Sun Basket’s customer retention is markedly higher. Instead of limiting healthy options to generic healthy diets, Sun Basket is allowing users of the service to customize their plans (vegetarian, vegan, etc.) in ways that makes those users feel like they have a partner in their healthy eating efforts. Sun Basket is on its Series D and has raised $113M to date.
Strava = Fitness tracker + (Alone -> Connected)
Strava is one of last remaining private fitness tracking companies that has not been bought up by a larger fitness and lifestyle player. What makes Strava unique among applications is their focus on the feed — the work your friends are completing, which you can comment on and like, which encourages connection and future action. In the past, athletes did not have such a simple way to share and view other’s activities. Strava is still figuring out how to monetize its massive growth in users and remains cagey about its future actions, but continues to take on funding via a Series E. That amount was undisclosed.
Fitbit = Fitness tracker + (Powerless -> Powerful)
Fitbit positioned fitness in a new way — not just strenuous activity. This repositioning of fitness made it seem possible for a large population previously who felt powerless to join in. Fitbit’s current market cap is $1.2B, way down from its IPO net of $4B. Fitbit in a way is a victim of its own success, which has spurred imitation and steep competition related to this functional and emotional value proposition.
How to figure out emotional delta in the context of your product or market
You need to either invest the time to learn and master the methods I review in this post, or hire a team of behavioral economists and design researchers. These disciplines bring the appropriate combination of qualitative research and quantitative analysis to help determine the right approach. Let’s talk about what makes sense for you.
