I’ve gotten to do some cool work things lately. One big one is getting involved in the Alexa Diabetes Challenge, sponsored by Merck & Co., and supported by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Contestants are tasked with coming up with an idea, and later a working prototype, for an intervention that leverages Alexa’s voice technology to support people newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. The challenge administrators, Luminary Labs, curated a panel of subject matter experts across a variety of domains to work with the five finalists. I’m supporting them on behavior change, along with Marika Saarinen, a PharmD and certified diabetes educator at Virginia Mason. Continue reading How Can Voice Tech Help Health Behavior Change? The Alexa Diabetes Challenge
Category Archives: Innovation
Content Is Core
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. Life’s gotten really busy lately (in a good way) and it doesn’t leave a lot of time or mental energy for writing non-work stuff. Tomorrow I’ll be presenting at UXPA Boston on how to bring behavioral economics into health interventions, so if you’re there come say hello. If you’re not there and you’re interested in the topic, we’ll be reprising a version of the talk the following week as a free Mad*Pow webinar. Continue reading Content Is Core
Next Edge Summit 2016 Recap
Earlier this week I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel at the Next Edge Summit in Boston. The two day event’s theme was “Reimagining the Patient Journey.” Much of that re-imagination came through the lens of technology, and specifically artificial intelligence and its role in creating and delivering personalized health interventions. The focus stems from the expertise of Next IT Healthcare, which presents the summit. Continue reading Next Edge Summit 2016 Recap
Behind the Screens: Aligning Operations And Digital Tools
In The Wizard of Oz, the Great and Powerful Oz ended up being an illusion controlled by Professor Marvel, a skilled performer hidden behind a curtain. Similarly, many exceptional digital experiences come from the expertise and coordination of offline functions. This is especially true any time digital experiences provide an entryway to something non-digital, whether it’s retail (all things shopping), health care delivery (online pharmacies, remote medical consultation, and the like), or real-world magic (the Disney park experience). What does it take behind the curtain to make a great digital experience happen? Continue reading Behind the Screens: Aligning Operations And Digital Tools
Radical Innovation in the Bathroom
Incremental innovation improves on existing technology or systems. Historically, the most famous and impactful inventions tend to fall under the category of radical innovation. Not to say incremental innovation is bad–it’s important–but it doesn’t usually change the game. The game changers are the ones that break out of existing paradigms and don’t accept the usual parameters as a given. It’s radical innovation we need when looking at critical issues such as how to hang toilet paper on the roll. Continue reading Radical Innovation in the Bathroom
HxRefactored: Day 2 Dispatches
Better late than never, I hope! Between travel and the onset of a nasty cold, I didn’t get to this post as quickly after the end of HxRefactored as I’d planned. Day 2 of HxR flew by even more quickly than Day 1 despite being, technically speaking, longer. The day was bookended by keynotes with topic-specific panels in between. Shockingly, I spent my day hunkered down at the Behavior Change panels hearing about the latest and greatest in the area. Continue reading HxRefactored: Day 2 Dispatches
Dispatches from Day 1: HxRefactored
Yesterday was the first day of HxRefactored, which is permanently in contention for my favorite conference ever. As usual, the programming was superb, thought-provoking, and engaging. I tweeted my face off (check out my feed to the right of this post or at Twitter directly). The following were, at least on first reflection, my major takeaways: Continue reading Dispatches from Day 1: HxRefactored
When I Don’t Know that You Don’t Know What I Know: Hidden Profiles and Expert Information
I’ve been reading Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days. One of the key Monday activities is gathering information from expert stakeholders whose perspective may influence the solution. The authors suggest encouraging these experts to provide a complete overview of their take on the problem to be solved, even urging them to “remind us about” to make sure they are comfortable covering familiar ground. The process reminded me of a line of psychological research about the “hidden profile” and how it influences group decision-making. Continue reading When I Don’t Know that You Don’t Know What I Know: Hidden Profiles and Expert Information
Making User Testing Comfortable: Changing Cultural and Personal Attitudes
For those of us working in digital, testing our work during the development cycle and measuring its impact once launched can be complicated. We know we should, but it takes so much time, and besides, what are we going to do if we uncover problems through testing? Do we have budget and time to even fix anything? Plus there’s the pain of learning your work didn’t meet the mark, and the dilemma of admitting by doing testing that you weren’t totally sure about what you built anyway. Continue reading Making User Testing Comfortable: Changing Cultural and Personal Attitudes
How Polly Combats Low Health Literacy With Humor and Technology
A challenge for public health educators and behavior change experts is helping people who have low levels of health literacy. These people may have difficulty with written communication, understanding medication instructions, or how to care for a chronic condition. Low health literacy is incredibly common, with some groups estimating that as many as 88% of American adults struggle with some aspect of health literacy. Continue reading How Polly Combats Low Health Literacy With Humor and Technology