Global Stroke Ethnography

Problem

A major biotechnology firm developed a novel therapy to treat ischemic strokes. But the product team was unsure how to adapt the drug to diverse emergency departments across Europe, Asia, and America. How should the drug be packaged? Where should it be stored? Who should prepare and administer it?

These questions are pressing in the case of strokes. Each minutes is a matter of life and death. Patients have just 4.5 hours to receive a plasminogen activator (tPA) infusion that busts the clots in their arteries.

Process

Fieldwork

Data Analysis/Insights

RESULTS

The final results were design criteria for a new drug and device kit adaptable to diverse stroke center systems. We presented the criteria as a hierarchical decision chart, which enabled our client to bundle its stroke drug with modular supply sets. As a result, new markets in Japan, China, and Germany opened up to the company.

The client’s product team has begun to roll out variations of the kit to suit stroke centers’ unique demands.  

Our methods and findings were also presented at the 2019 Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care annual meeting.

*Certain details have been omitted in conformity with confidentiality agreements.