During the kick-off meeting between the Live Well team and Pfizer ThermaCare, Pfizer introduced osteoarthritis heat therapy.
Through market research, consumer interviews, and brand analysis the Live Well team gained an understanding of osteoarthritis and the treatment routines of the consumer group.
The ideation phase began with group ideation exercises and design criteria development. Help from the team’s expert advisors encouraged development. After another round of consumer interactions, the team narrowed down concept opportunities.
The Live Well team developed 6 final concepts and physical prototypes for the final presentation. The team also developed a new brand, ThermaCare OA, with new packaging and branding imagery, and an ad campaign targeting consumers with osteoarthritis.
The Live Well team created three actionable opportunities for the future of ThermaCare OA: focus on creating a product to use in a Physical Therapy space, develop a strong branding message to educate and empower consumers, and create an implementation plan for filing IP and developing key concepts.
Through Pfizer Consumer Healthcare’s ThermaCare wraps, users are able to buy over the counter, on-the-go relief for many types of muscle and joint pain. ThermaCare is currently interested in developing their presence in a professional clinical setting, in order to provide patients with external relief products which help improve their medical results. Live Well facilitated this development by consulting with the UC College of Medicine as well as UC Health Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine. In doing so, they learned how ThermaCare can develop credibility among clinicians while meeting the heat therapy needs of athletes. By re-imagining how to use heat therapy in a professional capacity, ThermaCare will be able to continue to grow into a more dependable and versatile brand.
To kick-off the project, the Live Well team met with seven physicians from UC Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine at Holmes Hospital. Through an interactive session, the team was better able to better understand the relationship between the student athletes, their trainers, and the physicians. This session also clarified the types of injury athletes experience, how heat therapy is currently used, and the potential for ThermaCare to expand in this field.
The Live Well team then met with four athletic trainers, three NCAA athletes, and twenty-seven club hockey athletes. Through these interviews, the team was able to better understand the interactions that occur between different stakeholders. Because each individual had a different approach to heat therapy, the Live Well team gathered a wide variety of input to continue filling in the timeline of athlete interaction. Through this, the opportunity areas for ThermaCare became more evident.
To round out the interviews, the Live Well team met with Dean Daniels and Srini Sripada of Pfizer, as well as Dr. Divine, Dr. Donaworth and Kim Hasselfeld of UC Sports Medicine. At this meeting, the team presented their research findings through methods like Value Opportunity Assessment and scenario descriptions. After the digital presentation, the doctors participated in an activity and discussion regarding study opportunities which could further establish credibility for the ThermaCare brand. Through this research, the team also developed opportunities in areas such as brand awareness, new product lines, and product improvements. By developing these potential pathways, ThermaCare will be able to better expand as a credible brand that can more clearly reach its expanding target market.
The Live Well team presented to members of Pfizer’s R&D and design teams, as well as a group from UC Sports and Health Medicine. In this presentation, the participants were shown three concept areas that were developed through the research and ideation phases. Ideas within messaging, 1-5 year range, and 5+ year range were validated by the doctors and then further developed by the Live Well and Pfizer design teams.
Download Ideation PresentationThe Live Well team rounded out the semester with a presentation of the final refined concepts to members of Pfizer, UC Sports Medicine, and the School of Design. Through the final refinement phase, three core areas were focused on – the ThermaCare Sport System, targeted heat therapy, and sensor based treatment assistance.
Download Refinement PresentationExplore one common platform or system for adaptation (attachment) to the body of external pain relief therapies that can integrate a line-up of products that connect dry heat, moist heat, cold, and future pain relief modalities. The basis for the connection across modalities and users will be both utility/function, and a consistent consumer message/design.
Each design student came to class with 25 concept sketches to hang for critique. The class split into their original three teams from the first day so that the designers could present their concepts and receive feedback. The business students were able to offer valuable input about product marketability, while nursing students were able to offer insights into designs that would promote pain relief, wellness, and circulation. After discussing the designs, business students helped identify a set of parameters by which the concepts could be filtered and judged internally. Each team grouped their sketches into categories based on commonalities, and each designer selected one set of ideas to expand into a system for next week. The nursing student from each group will be supporting the designers’ choices with research, while the business student from each group will be finding examples of regimens and systems to inspire the class.The technology team divided their presentation into 2 main sections: engines that could drive heat/cold, etc., and vehicles that carry the engines. Each section was divided into several subsections containing research, benchmarking, and concepts.
Using the materials samples ThermaCare provided, students had an in-class work day where they cut, measured, taped, folded, glued, and even melted materials together to design prototypes. Nursing and Business students offered insights on the designs while the nursing mannequins posed as good models. Business students also generated metrics for evaluating products with consumers.
The business and nursing students visited the homes of 5 consumers in the 60+ age group to gain their expert insights and opinions on the concepts presented at the midterm. All of the consumers were eager to share their opinions of the concepts because they all had histories of chronic pain. The students used a rating scale that the business students developed to record each consumer’s feedback on initial concepts and understand how the concepts could be developed or improved further.
After the midterm, the class examined their concepts and identified the 5 strongest areas to further develop:
Explore one common platform or system for adaptation (attachment) to the body of external pain relief therapies that can integrate a line-up of products that connect dry heat, moist heat, cold, and future pain relief modalities. The basis for the connection across modalities and users will be both utility/function, and a consistent consumer message/design.
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