Communication Plan for Engaging and Empowering HIV Patients
What I did
Research, Strategy, UI Design,
Team/Client management
Duration
1.5 years (Dec 2021 - July 2023)
Tools
Power Point, Excel, Adobe XD
Prototype
Overview
Context
After Gilead launched its new HIV drug BVY, we created "Voice of Heart" content on our website for HIV patients to encourage conversations between doctors and patients in order to increase sales of that drug.
Challenge
There were two big challenges; the fear of side effects and the limitation of advertisement in the pharmaceutical industry.
Many HIV patients suffer from side effects associated with HIV treatment such as dizziness and nausea. Since those side effects happen especially in the early stage after changing the drug, many patients are not willing to change medications.
In addition to that, we can't mention the drug's name on the website or any advertisement by regulations, thus we needed to figure out how we encourage HIV patients to change their treatments from the current one to BVY.
Process
Desktop Research
Online Survey (n=40)
Discover
Develop
Define
Deliver
Interview (n=16)
Data Synthesis
User Test (n=9)
Ideation
Idea Selection
Wireframe
UI Design
Copy writing
Internal Test
Team
As project leader, I led the following members of the team.
- Designer (2 people)
- Copywriter
- Engineer (2 people)
- Research Assistant
- Sales
What does HIV treatment look like?
365
Take medicine
EVERY DAY
Suffer from
VARIOUS SIDE EFFECTS
Meet with doctors
EVERY 3 MONTHS
(nausea, fatigue, headache, fever, diarrhea,
loss of appetite, and trouble sleeping, etc)
What are the advantages of BVY?
There are two advantages that reduce the burden on the patient.
Small size compared to other drugs
Fewer Chances of side effects
Insights
I identified two insights related to therii treatments from the interviews.
Insight #1
Patients think that they have to accept and bear the side effects.
“Side effects are part of HIV treatment and I get used to them.
So, I don't report them to my doctor.”
(43 years old, man)
Insight #2
Patients are interested in new treatments, but hesitant to change because of fear of new side effects.
“I keep up with new medications, but I don't know if they would work for me.”
(36 years old, man)
Findings
Based on the research, we revealed HIV patients' stakeholders and their journey, which led us to three big findings.
①Patients with new information from doctors
More likely to change
③Consultations are too fast and routine
Missed opportunities
②Accuracy of the patients’ condition
Best treatments
There is a lack of communication
between patients and doctors about the patient's condition for optimal treatment
Stakeholder map
Patient journey map
Ideas
We've created the "Voice of Heart" check tool to reveal HIV patients' unconscious concerns and dissatisfactions with their treatment and life. It is intended to facilitate conversations
between doctors and patients about their accurate conditions and needs.
STEP1: Select the items
Patients can select the items
that apply to their situation.
STEP2: Review your items
After selecting the checklist, the website shows the items that they selected before.
STEP3: Save your checklist
The patient saves the Voice of Heart results as a screen shot or email to prepare for the meeting with the doctor.
STEP4: Bring the result to the meeting with the doctor
Doctors can gain an understanding of their patients' unmet needs by looking at the Voice of Heart results.
Patients can also use it to tell their doctors exactly what they are reluctant to tell them directly or what they tend to forget.
