Design Thinking: what is it, how we use it, how it can solve problems in digital health

Design Thinking is a creative, iterative problem-solving methodology that puts people at the centre. It originated in product and service design but is now widely used in business strategy and innovation. It’s particularly useful when challenges are complex, involve multiple stakeholders, or require new thinking to move forward.

Design Thinking processes typically involves five stages:

1. Empathise – understand the people you’re designing for

2. Define – clearly articulate the problem

3. Ideate – explore a wide range of possible solutions

4. Prototype – build quick, low-fidelity models to test ideas

5. Test – gather feedback and refine based on real-world input

This cycle isn’t strictly linear, and teams often move back and forth between stages. But the constant is a mindset of curiosity, collaboration and experimentation.

When applying a Design Thinking mindset, there are 3 core principles that can be applied to create effective digital solutions. A great product must be desirable, viable, and feasible. Read more about the 3 core principles here.

The digital health landscape is evolving rapidly, but it's also full of friction. Patients struggle to navigate fragmented tools. HCPs are time-poor and sceptical of digital content. Pharma teams face internal silos, regulatory complexity, and growing pressure to prove impact.

Design Thinking helps cut through the noise by grounding decisions in real human needs. It allows digital product teams to:

• Better understand the expectations of patients and HCPs

• Identify pain points in the current experience

• Co-create solutions with end users and internal stakeholders

• Test assumptions early and reduce the risk of launching something that doesn’t land

When applied thoughtfully, Design Thinking enables digital solutions that are not only compliant and technically sound, but also intuitive, engaging and emotionally resonant.

Design Thinking underpins much of how we work, from initial discovery through to optimisation. Whether we’re working with a global pharma brand on a new HCP platform or helping a private healthcare provider improve their patient onboarding journey, we follow a human-centred, insight-driven process.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

1. Empathising with real users
We start by speaking directly to patients, HCPs, or internal teams. Through qualitative research, we uncover deep insights into behaviours, needs, motivations and blockers — often revealing disconnects between what organisations think users want and what they actually need.

2. Defining the challenge
Rather than jumping straight to solutions, we take time to define the problem clearly and precisely. This might mean reframing a brief from “We need a new app” to “How might we help HCPs feel more confident in prescribing this treatment?” The difference in direction — and outcome — is significant.

3. Ideating and co-creating
We run collaborative workshops to generate ideas with cross-functional client teams, subject matter experts, and end users. By creating space for multiple perspectives, we surface more diverse, creative and feasible ideas.

4. Prototyping rapidly
Instead of building fully formed solutions from day one, we create wireframes, journey flows, or clickable prototypes that bring ideas to life. This allows us to test quickly, gather feedback, and iterate with confidence.

5. Testing and validating
We put prototypes in front of real users to learn what works, what doesn’t, and where improvements are needed. This process reduces risk, speeds up alignment, and ensures the final product delivers value to the people it’s designed for.

Design thinking is particularly powerful when organisations are dealing with:

• Low engagement from HCPs or patients

• Disjointed digital experiences across channels or brands

• Unclear user journeys or product positioning

• Innovation initiatives that feel stuck or siloed

• The need to align internal teams around a shared vision

• Launching new digital products, features or services successfully

For example, a global pharma client came to us with a challenge: their digital tools for HCPs weren’t being used as expected. By applying a design thinking approach, we identified key pain points in navigation and content relevance, and co-created a solution that better supported clinical decision-making. Engagement improved significantly, and so did internal buy-in.

While Design Thinking takes time and commitment, the benefits are wide-reaching:

• Improved digital customer experience: By addressing real pain points, products become more useful, usable and trusted.

• Faster alignment and decision-making: Prototypes help teams visualise solutions and make better, quicker choices.

• Increased innovation: A structured process for idea generation unlocks creativity while staying grounded in purpose.

• Reduced risk: Testing early helps avoid costly rework or misaligned investments.

• Greater trust with patients and HCPs: By involving users throughout the process, you build credibility and empathy into the final outcome.

You don’t need to overhaul your entire organisation overnight. Start small:

• Talk to real users before making assumptions

• Reframe briefs as open-ended questions

• Sketch ideas before committing to build

• Test concepts early and often

• Create space for collaboration across silos

Design Thinking is as much a mindset as it is a method. It invites teams to shift from output-focused delivery to outcome-driven problem-solving — and in the world of digital health, that’s a vital distinction.