Helpfully Perspectives

Have you seen ‘the wall?’ We see the wall frequently. It’s a common moment on our visits to clinics and hospitals and other sites of care. On our research visits, Helpfully often begins our field work with a tour around healthcare facilities and we observe key moments in how patients and professionals navigate the spaces and get things done. What happens when? Where does a person go next? What’s ‘on stage’ and ‘behind the scenes’? Sometimes, we already know some of the pain points or a breakpoint in the patient journey. In other cases we get more latitude to explore and discover breakpoints.

Helpfully supports startup clients, since startups by definition are exploring what’s next. We look for a range of ways to help these teams including customer discovery, jobs-to-be-done and MVP definition, qual and quant UX research, and even mentoring leadership teams.

Future transportation promises greater safety, information resources and much faster connectivity to prevent injuries from traffic crashes and improve the commuting experience. Drones, driverless cars, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will seamlessly coordinate and transport goods and people for very little cost. The demands for faster, more efficient commuting options are driving the development of flying taxis for urban areas.

McKinsey’s 2019 Healthcare research report highlights how much “low hanging fruit” there is in the healthcare delivery system in the U.S. The report emphasizes why and how hospital operators should focus efforts on improving the team’s productivity rather than making large-scale financial investments in cutting-edge technologies or new operating models.

Humans are interesting — and challenging — because they are… somewhat predictable.

Digital product design often falls quickly into the design of UI controls. Teams sometimes default to the most visible and most salient part of a system, the user interface — text, icons, buttons, form fields, and scrolling panels that make up a digital experience.