Alivius : Condition & Life Management Service For Cancer Therapy
Dr. Reddy's is the fourth biggest pharmaceutical brand in Brazil, and one of the leading suppliers of Generic drugs used for multiple types of cancer treatment. In this competitive market DRL wanted to set themselves apart.
During the initial probing the team began to suspect that there were deficiencies within the healthcare system that were letting patients down; especially ones suffering from Metastatic Prostate Cancer (mPc), Multiple Myeloma (MM) and Metastatic Breast Cancer (mBc). The team realised the need to create a beyond-the-pill solution for the problems that patients, caregivers, doctors and other healthcare workers faced.
Alivius aims at helping hospitals in key Latin American markets alleviate pain points of cancer patients and empowering them during various stages of diagnosis and treatment.
Team: Anuranjini Singh, Subodh Trivedi, Pooja Vasu, Nilay Bhandari
Sometimes the problem is just a symptom of a broken system.
In the fight against cancer, cancer is not the only enemy.
Cancer treatment across many Latin American countries is not uniformly designed to provide the best quality care for all patients. Shortcomings in the system lead to inconsistent experiences for patients and caregivers creating delay in treatment and sub-standard experiences.
Complexities in the healthcare system lead to ‘broken experiences’. They leave patients without support and assistance during critical moments of the treatment journey, making it difficult for patients to access to quality care.
Alivius: A patient-centric digital solution which enables users to take control of their lives during their treatment journey. The solution also helps hospital care teams manage patients better with treatment & diagnosis, extreme side-effects and emotional support.
How might we make things better for the patients and care givers?
The design research involved reaching out to various user groups ( Patients, Oncologists, Nurses, caregivers, Pharmacists and Insurance Payers) who would play an important role throughout the patient and disease journey. These stakeholders had their unique needs and aspirations coming at play at different milestones in the therapy process. The challenge was to arrive at a solution which would meet the expectations of all the stakeholders providing them with valuable experience. This beyond the pill.
Below is a map of the various interactions which the user persona of an ‘Oncologist Nurse’ has during his/her typical work week. Such ‘Interaction Maps’ were created for all stakeholders which helped us understand the very complex information and service model our solution was supposed to cater to. All the interactions and observations led us to uncover critical insights which would later become a unique proposition for the user and a profitable business opportunity for DRL to engage and onboard Hospitals and Doctors.
Towards alleviating the pain and fears, through empowerment.
We decoded insights which pointed towards creating awareness and credible information at the right time for the patients and the caregivers. Patients are surrounded with feelings of isolation and helplessness and need a solution which will empower them to better manage and deal with life changes. During various stages of diagnosis how can we bring in transparency so the patients feel in control of their treatment and at the same time reduce burdens on nurses and doctors. Another important aspect is to engage payers and hospitals beyond commercials especially playing an important role in brand selection of the chemotherapy drug.
Most importantly the solution to provide patients and caregivers cohesive support and guidance so that they remain motivated throughout the most exhaustive and longest stage of the treatment journey.
The many sides of Alivius.
In the care pathway, the ongoing treatment phase is the longest and most strenuous phase of a patient’s journey — exactly why Alivius focuses on this stage of treatment. During our research phase common themes started to emerge from their experiences, and our team was able to synthesise a list of what the patients needed.
Information about the rights and benefits, personalised guidance on a diet that suits their cancer and its treatment, along with fitness activities. Ease of setting up appointments and a treatment schedule for chemotherapy, radiation and testing, reminders for medicines, diet, and fitness regime. A method to track the side-effects they are experiencing so they can be managed. Quick and easy access to the hospital team. A simple way to keep their medical records and paperwork handy. Psychological support to ensure they stay strong and motivated throughout the treatment journey.
Once we had understood their needs, our goal was to create a solution that would address them and in doing so improve their quality of life while they fought the disease.
Creating a world of wellness:
Alivius was designed to be a holistic service that would guide cancer patients and their caregivers in their journey through cancer diagnosis, treatment and the accompanying lifestyle changes. Alivius makes each day better and brighter for cancer patients, reminding them that they are not alone.
From Managing to empowering.
Parallel to building the solution, we were also responsible to build the identity and the brand experience of Alivius. We came up with the name From the dual ideas of ‘alleviate’ and ‘us’. A name that conveyed the spirit of making lives better together.
The Alivius logo adheres to the ideals of empowering, collaborative and responsive. The circle represents the many people who would work together. The Latin American colours of red, yellow, blue and green and all they signify, come together in a circle like a community to emphasise the‘US’ in Alivius.
Through the chosen typography and illustration style we wanted to emphasise how friendly and approachable Alivius is.
Alivius was designed to be a daily companion, so all its interactions with its users had to be intuitive and engaging even with frequent repetition. Since a positive experience for the user was the primary consideration in our interaction design, the emphasis on feedback was immense.
The final user experience of Alivius is calming and efficient, with pleasing micro-animations, free of unnecessary gimmicks and frills. The seamless flow makes the service a pleasure to use, as do the short user journeys.
