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How a Medical Device Product Designer used Video Diary Studies to research a day-in-the-life of Medical Sales Reps
Medical sales representatives strategically promote and sell medical device manufacturers' products and act as the liaison between the customers and the manufacturer. They have a deep understanding of the customers' needs and must have the confidence to deliver what is needed when needed.
The complexity of inventory management is still a significant pain point for many medical device manufacturers. Lack of data from field reps hinders accurate forecasting and demand planning. A lack of field visibility also drives up shipping and manufacturing costs. Sales reps are continually scrambling to find the right product and deliver it at the right time.
To understand and build a software solution for these problems, the product design team initially conducted user interviews to help them understand their extreme user, the medical sales rep.
The Challenge with researching Medical Device Sales Reps
During their initial round of user interviews with the medical representatives, it became apparent to the product designers that each rep had their own system for collecting information about their accounts.
No two sales reps were the same; many stored data in their head or in a spreadsheet. Initially, this was a great insight and something the designers felt could be improved by designing the right technology and implementing appropriate systems and training.
The more sales reps they interviewed, however, the more it became clear that they did not care much for these administrative tasks; they didn't want more tools to use; they spoke of it as “busy work” during downtime.
This was in direct contrast to the other personas the product designers interviewed. The commercial rep, who manages a team of 25 representatives across eight territories, told the product designers that their reps needed additional tools, and they needed to provide them with more data. The supply chain manager told the designers he would like to see the sales reps complete more audits every month.
What was instantly clear was that a more human-centred design that addressed the specific contextual needs of every stakeholder was urgently needed.
Research methodologies for Medical Device Research
Coming out of their user interviews with the various users, the design researchers felt even more confused than when they started.
But one thing was clear; they needed a new design research methodology to better understand the everyday needs and behaviors of medical reps. Every one of their personas had a different perspective on where the sales reps should be focusing. Every stakeholder in the medical device manufacturer depended on the field rep to have a pulse on what their customers really need.
The product design team knew that because each sales rep had their own system and approach to their work, conducting more user interviews would only showcase their differences.
Interviews also made it difficult to build empathy with their users. Their charismatic networkers, strategic closers, and customer-oriented achievers never let much get them down. 5 a.m. wake-up calls, high-stress operating room product evaluations, cold calling, carrying their trunk stock up flights of stairs, this was a typical day in the life for the sales reps.
Using Video Diary Studies to augment User Interviews
The design researchers moved away from 1:1 user interviews, and instead, they decided to allow a few sales reps to show them a day in their life from the perspective of the sales rep. The designers had heard from just about every other user except their extreme user.
The product designers hoped to understand what a good day looked like for a medical sales rep, and what a frustrating day looked like. Most importantly, they wanted to uncover insights that only a video diary study would uncover. Could the reps get comfortable enough with filming their day to let their guard down?
Why use Video Diary Studies as a tool for medical device research?
A Video Diary Study was chosen as the preferred research method as it allowed the product design researchers to feel like they were riding alongside their users. When the reps received that call from the surgery center that the doctor rescheduled the procedure for the 2nd time, the researchers got to see and feel that frustration.
After a long day of work, the designers saw how vital a workout routine was to the reps for stress release. After just a few days, as trust began to build between the researchers and the reps, the medical device reps started to open up about what they really liked and disliked about their roles.
Key Benefits of using Video Diaries for Product Design research
Video Diary Studies allowed the product design and UX research team to gain access to medical sales reps quickly. Because mobile ethnography is an asynchronous approach, it avoided the pain of getting busy interview participants to schedule specific times to talk with the designers.
This asynchronous approach of video diaries meant that the medical device sales reps could engage when it was comfortable and convenient for them. It allowed the researchers to align their research with the routines of the reps and not interrupt it with interviews.
It also created a more comfortable and cost-effective study of their users' behavior.
The product design team saw video diaries as an extremely useful tool for immersing themselves in the contextual reality of the medical rep's daily journey. There are many tasks the reps must perform throughout the day. They got to see how the reps’ morale or mood changed depending on what they were working on. During the interviews and surveys, the researchers only received a bulleted list deprived of emotional insights and devoid of any context.
The chosen Diary Study tool enabled the designers to record video proof of the reality of a day in the life of a medical device sales rep and this transformed their understanding of their extreme users’ needs.
What was the outcome of using a video diary study tool?
The research captured was incredibly useful. The designers were finally able to create a complete empathy map and user journey based on actual behavioral data captured in context with video. Before, they did not have much to say about what their medical sales reps were thinking; they did not have deep emotional insights that could help shape their new perspective and problem statements.
Context rich, real-life video insights
The product design team was surprised to learn how much downtime there was in a sales rep's day. They are often left to create filler work for themselves. They also learned that every sales rep approached the collection of data differently.
Some documented their interactions with pen and paper, others utilized excel and their laptop in the car.
One significant, and unexpected insight they uncovered happened when a sales rep lost an item. The designers got to see the rep call and drive to multiple locations to try and find it. This is a process the researchers would never have had visibility on using an alternative design research method.
Private, safe and secure: our video diary study tool
Private: we connect you 1-1 with research participants to maximise privacy and trust.
Safe: anonymnous respondent logins and segregated recruiter accounts minimise PHI
Secure: our platform has been independently vetted by large healthcare providers.
GDPR Compliant
ISO 27001 Certified
Enterprise Ready
HIPAA Compliant
Why choose video diaries for medical device research
Overall, the designers were quickly able to spot challenges the medical sales reps faced daily. The entire design team felt much closer to their users, having seen their frustrations up close and personal.
Video Diaries helped the designers and researchers understand their software's role in a reps typical day. They got to see what it is about for the sales reps, and they didn't need more things on their plate or more data to collect for the back office.
The reps needed a solution that would empower them to spend more time doing what they really cared about, and that's selling and getting more time with decision-makers.
Not only did video diaries help the product designers better understand the rep’s point of view, but it also helped them when the time came to share their findings.
The product design team had insights not only in their users' own words, but they could show their stakeholders video proof of the everyday reality of a medical sales rep's life.
This helped the stakeholders feel as connected to the reps as the design researchers did. Remote, in-the-moment, digital ethnographic research proved to be a great tool for the design researchers to explore the needs and mindsets of their users and provided them with a much better understanding of the moments that matter most in the everyday lives of the reps.
Let us support your medical device design research
Video Diaries are a rich, agile way to get a deeper understanding of participants’ everyday lives and behaviors.
Projects can range from a few days to as long as a year but are typically 1 to 2 weeks in duration.
After analysing the engagement on hundreds of projects, we have learned a lot about how to optimize research for mobile and can activate your Video Diary research projects in as little as one working day.
