Design Thinking 

 Feb 7 , 2016 

 Al Kain 

 Design Thinking Tools used for Aspira Diagnostics Ltd 

 Background : I run a small biotech company in India – ICT Center It is predominantly   focused on making diagnostic reagents . The company has a young and knowledgeable product   development team . Within a decade of its initiation , the company has established itself in the global   market as an assured source of quality material . The top diagnostic companies in the world are our   customers . However , the segment we have chosen is small and niche and there is limited scope of   expanding the business . 

 With this background , we set up an internal team to review possible options for diversification . The   obvious choice was to forward integrate and make diagnostic kits . However , this was a risky option .   One , because it meant directly competing with our existing customers and secondly the business   needed complete change of the model we had followed . The top team was not willing to jeopardize its   relations with the customers . 

 I was therefore given the responsibility of looking out for options for expanding the business . One of the   possible business option was to go a step down the value chain – to set up a Pathology Lab so that we   would not compete with our customers and in fact become their customers . Logically , this seemed the   best strategy but we knew nothing of the Pathology Lab business and there were established players in   the market . In order to develop an innovative business model and identify value preposition from the   point of the stakeholders , I used a combination of following tools – Journey Mapping , Visualization and   Mind Maps . A brief of the insights obtained , points of differentiations identified and the development of   business model is provided in this note . 

 Journey Mapping and Visualization : 

 I identified various stakeholders in the Pathology Lab business and mapped their journey . The diagram   overleaf provides a snapshot of that journey . I actually visited local labs and mapped this journey . From   the journey the following things were evident : 

    The patient had to spend substantial time in moving from the Clinic to the Lab several times . 

    The patient was incurring out of pocket expenses like travelling , loss of mandays etc even for   now value adding activities like collecting the samples , sharing results with Clinicians etc . 

    The results were delayed because of sample logistics and this resulted in delayed treatment . 

    I found that the cost of things like loss of mandays for self and the person accompanying the   patient , travelling costs and other out of pocket expenses were as high as the cost of testing and   treatment for routine diseases . 

    The cost of a re - test and the second iteration of this process was at least repeated once for   every patient . 

 Design Thinking 

 Feb 2 , 2017 

 I interviewed the Patients and realized that there were many different sub - groups of patients –   Pediatric , Neonatal , Elderly Patients , Working men and women , people suffering from infectious   diseases and chronic diseases etc . Each of these patient had different requirements . For example , I   made the following observations for the elderly diabetic people who need regular blood sugar testing to   be done . 

 a ) They prefer a phlebotomist to come and collect the sample from their home .   b ) Because of their age and disease they are anxious whether the phlebotomist would come on 

 time or not . 

 Clinician 

 Checks and 

 Recommends a 

 Test 

 Patients goes to   a Patholgy Lab 

 Lab collects 

 samples and the   testing charges 

 Patient comes   after a day ( or   more ) to collect 

 result 

 Lab hands over 

 the results 

 Visits Clinic with 

 results 

 Physician   prescribes 

 medicines or   asks for addn 

 tests 

 Can it be done 

 internally ? 

 Run the test 

 Yes 

 Sends sample 

 to ref Lab 

 No 

 Sample 

 reaches ref lab 

 Lab confirms 

 receipt of 

 payment from 

 local lab 

 Lab runs test 

 Provides result 

 to local lab 

 Patient Journey Lab Testing Journey 

 Design Thinking 

 Feb 7 , 2016 

 c ) They are anxious whether the results would show a substantial increase in their blood sugar 

 level . 

 d ) If there is a little delay in the collection or in the reporting then they get irritated . 

 These insights would be extremely important in designing the logistics of sample collection as well as   dealing with such patients . 

 Insights from the use of design thinking tools : 

 The tools have provided many insights to develop a business model that meets the unmet and unstated   needs of various stakeholders . Some of these are : 

 a ) A solution needs to be developed so that the multiple trips of the patient to the clinic and labs 

 can be minimized . This will reduce cost as well as expedite the treatment available to the   patient . 

 b ) We need to clearly develop specific programs for the various patient categories . Each of them 

 have a different and unique requirement and this fact is being ignored by the existing players in   the market . 

 c ) The automation and IT systems used in the lab are disconnected . Therefore , a patient needs to 

 be registering every time in different centers of the same lab . Also , the report generated by LIS   is printed and physically delivered to the patient instead of using tools like emails , whatsapp ,   text messages etc . The clinics , the labs and the patient are not connected together through any   IT system . It is therefore necessary in the what - if and what - wow stage of this project to identify   solutions that could make this possible . 

 d ) Most of the lab focus on collecting the samples and forget to acknowledge the emotional 

 requirements of the patient in trauma . Thus , the ambience of the labs is not made comfortable   and relaxing . No lab offers counseling service to the patient . We need to identify possible   solutions and conduct a launch test in the next phase . 

 End note : The design thinking training was indeed useful to me for the assignment undertaken in my   organization . It helped me to look beyond the obvious . It made me shift my focus from me - too solutions   to a holistic solution that addressed the need of all the stakeholders . The insights obtained from the   what - is stage of this project would be useful in the subsequent phases of the project . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Al Kain
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Design Thinking 

 Feb 7 , 2016 

 Al Kain 

 Design Thinking Tools used for Aspira Diagnostics Ltd 

 Background : I run a small biotech company in India – ICT Center It is predominantly   focused on making diagnostic reagents . The company has a young and knowledgeable product   development team . Within a decade of its initiation , the company has established itself in the global   market as an assured source of quality material . The top diagnostic companies in the world are our   customers . However , the segment we have chosen is small and niche and there is limited scope of   expanding the business . 

 With this background , we set up an internal team to review possible options for diversification . The   obvious choice was to forward integrate and make diagnostic kits . However , this was a risky option .   One , because it meant directly competing with our existing customers and secondly the business   needed complete change of the model we had followed . The top team was not willing to jeopardize its   relations with the customers . 

 I was therefore given the responsibility of looking out for options for expanding the business . One of the   possible business option was to go a step down the value chain – to set up a Pathology Lab so that we   would not compete with our customers and in fact become their customers . Logically , this seemed the   best strategy but we knew nothing of the Pathology Lab business and there were established players in   the market . In order to develop an innovative business model and identify value preposition from the   point of the stakeholders , I used a combination of following tools – Journey Mapping , Visualization and   Mind Maps . A brief of the insights obtained , points of differentiations identified and the development of   business model is provided in this note . 

 Journey Mapping and Visualization : 

 I identified various stakeholders in the Pathology Lab business and mapped their journey . The diagram   overleaf provides a snapshot of that journey . I actually visited local labs and mapped this journey . From   the journey the following things were evident : 

    The patient had to spend substantial time in moving from the Clinic to the Lab several times . 

    The patient was incurring out of pocket expenses like travelling , loss of mandays etc even for   now value adding activities like collecting the samples , sharing results with Clinicians etc . 

    The results were delayed because of sample logistics and this resulted in delayed treatment . 

    I found that the cost of things like loss of mandays for self and the person accompanying the   patient , travelling costs and other out of pocket expenses were as high as the cost of testing and   treatment for routine diseases . 

    The cost of a re - test and the second iteration of this process was at least repeated once for   every patient . 

 Design Thinking 

 Feb 2 , 2017 

 I interviewed the Patients and realized that there were many different sub - groups of patients –   Pediatric , Neonatal , Elderly Patients , Working men and women , people suffering from infectious   diseases and chronic diseases etc . Each of these patient had different requirements . For example , I   made the following observations for the elderly diabetic people who need regular blood sugar testing to   be done . 

 a ) They prefer a phlebotomist to come and collect the sample from their home .   b ) Because of their age and disease they are anxious whether the phlebotomist would come on 

 time or not . 

 Clinician 

 Checks and 

 Recommends a 

 Test 

 Patients goes to   a Patholgy Lab 

 Lab collects 

 samples and the   testing charges 

 Patient comes   after a day ( or   more ) to collect 

 result 

 Lab hands over 

 the results 

 Visits Clinic with 

 results 

 Physician   prescribes 

 medicines or   asks for addn 

 tests 

 Can it be done 

 internally ? 

 Run the test 

 Yes 

 Sends sample 

 to ref Lab 

 No 

 Sample 

 reaches ref lab 

 Lab confirms 

 receipt of 

 payment from 

 local lab 

 Lab runs test 

 Provides result 

 to local lab 

 Patient Journey Lab Testing Journey 

 Design Thinking 

 Feb 7 , 2016 

 c ) They are anxious whether the results would show a substantial increase in their blood sugar 

 level . 

 d ) If there is a little delay in the collection or in the reporting then they get irritated . 

 These insights would be extremely important in designing the logistics of sample collection as well as   dealing with such patients . 

 Insights from the use of design thinking tools : 

 The tools have provided many insights to develop a business model that meets the unmet and unstated   needs of various stakeholders . Some of these are : 

 a ) A solution needs to be developed so that the multiple trips of the patient to the clinic and labs 

 can be minimized . This will reduce cost as well as expedite the treatment available to the   patient . 

 b ) We need to clearly develop specific programs for the various patient categories . Each of them 

 have a different and unique requirement and this fact is being ignored by the existing players in   the market . 

 c ) The automation and IT systems used in the lab are disconnected . Therefore , a patient needs to 

 be registering every time in different centers of the same lab . Also , the report generated by LIS   is printed and physically delivered to the patient instead of using tools like emails , whatsapp ,   text messages etc . The clinics , the labs and the patient are not connected together through any   IT system . It is therefore necessary in the what - if and what - wow stage of this project to identify   solutions that could make this possible . 

 d ) Most of the lab focus on collecting the samples and forget to acknowledge the emotional 

 requirements of the patient in trauma . Thus , the ambience of the labs is not made comfortable   and relaxing . No lab offers counseling service to the patient . We need to identify possible   solutions and conduct a launch test in the next phase . 

 End note : The design thinking training was indeed useful to me for the assignment undertaken in my   organization . It helped me to look beyond the obvious . It made me shift my focus from me - too solutions   to a holistic solution that addressed the need of all the stakeholders . The insights obtained from the   what - is stage of this project would be useful in the subsequent phases of the project .
### Output: 