Health Tech Matters: Talks About Healthcare Products and Design

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/ 

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How to find me? Maria Borysova, healthcare product designer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/ 

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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. 

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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.

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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/

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How to find me? Maria Borysova, healthcare product designer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

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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."

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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."

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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."

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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/

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How to find me? Maria Borysova, healthcare product designer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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/

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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 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/

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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/

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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/

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How to find me?

Maria Borysova: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/

In this episode, we are talking about switching to a healthcare design career, patient engagement solutions and design processes. Our guest is Quynh Nguyen, Product Designer at Luma Health, a patient engagement & mobile communication solution.

Luma Health: https://www.lumahealth.io/

Quynh Nguyen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quynh-nb-nguyen/

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How to find me?

Maria Borysova: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-borysova/