Healthcare innovation in the Digital Innovation Group (DIG)

Context

I worked within the Digital Innovation Group at DigitasLBi, developing new product and service concepts for AstraZeneca across multiple global markets, including the UK, US, and China.

The focus was on identifying unmet needs in healthcare and translating them into viable, user centred concepts that could be taken forward for investment.

The situation

The work sat within an innovation lab environment, where the goal was not to optimise existing services but to explore new opportunities for products and experiences.

This required combining deep research with emerging approaches to product design, drawing on ethnography, service design, and start up thinking to identify and shape new ideas.

There was also a need to articulate these ideas clearly enough to secure internal support and investment.

The work

I contributed to the development of multiple product and service concepts, combining research, experience strategy, and concept design.

This involved working across different markets to understand how cultural, systemic, and behavioural factors influenced healthcare delivery and patient experience.

A key part of the work was translating insight into propositions that could be clearly communicated and evaluated, including developing narratives, artefacts, and pitch materials.

One of the concepts I developed, The Guanxi Initiative, focused on improving referral pathways for diabetes patients in China by enabling stronger relationships between established and less established hospitals.

What changed

The work demonstrated how research-led, user centred approaches could generate viable product and service concepts within a healthcare context.

The Guanxi Initiative was successfully pitched and secured investment, validating both the concept and the approach taken within the innovation group.

What this demonstrates

The ability to translate research and insight into new product and service concepts, and to articulate those ideas in a way that secures stakeholder buy in and investment.