🏥 Product Management for HealthTech-Focused Products
Learnings from My Year Working in HealthTech Products
Hi there! This is Jorge Herna 👋🏼 Welcome to my newsletter, where I’ll share insights and thoughts about the Product world. You will learn about Product, Growth, Stakeholder Management, and everything that entails the PM role.
In case you missed it, here’s what happened this month.
🙋🏽♀️ Who's ever had the inspiring dream of enhancing someone's life through an app?
As Product Managers, we strive to make a meaningful impact by addressing challenges. However, there are few industries where you can proudly proclaim, "I'm making a difference in the world." 🤣
In 2021, I had the privilege of dedicating a year to the rewarding mission of enhancing people's sleep for one of Europe's rapidly growing companies.
⭐️ Today, I'm excited to share five valuable insights from my experience working on a digital product within the Health Tech sector.
🏥 Product Management for HealthTech-Focused Products
Before starting my first healthcare project, I knew I would encounter certain challenges. What I never could have imagined is that one of the most difficult hurdles would be getting the user to advocate for their own well-being 🤦🏽♂️.
Remember when in the previous post, I mentioned the two opposing forces that push the user to fall back into their old habits and consequently resist the adoption of a new feature?
Well, this is precisely what I learned the hard way when launching my first Habit Building app.
I'll use this as a segue to discuss the first lesson.
👾 Lesson 1 - Try to implement habits through Gamification to enhance short and long-term retention
In the health tech industry, there are various types of apps - those functioning as marketplaces, B2B apps, and then there are what we know as Habit Building Apps, more geared towards B2C customers.
Habit Building Apps are designed to implement improvements in our habits to solve or enhance health-related issues. A user reaches a point where they have motivation driven by a specific problem, leading them to try a particular solution.
The solutions offered by habit-building apps require effort and consistency in usage to start seeing a positive effect.
How does this translate at the product and company level?
Expecting Churn in Week One after Download.
Transformation from Free to Paid Users Requires Effort and Time.
So, what can we do to tackle these two challenges?
Utilize Gamification to Our Advantage.
But before delving into what gamification is and why I recommend using it, let's clarify an essential aspect regarding your future users.
Users of Habit Building Apps
A user who arrives at a health app typically falls into two categories:
They have a mild problem and are exploring solutions. Hence, they have the time to try your app but little motivation.
They have a severe problem and are considering your solution as a potential last resort. Therefore, they don't have time to try your app, but they have high motivation.
Understanding these two types of behaviors and motivations will help you manage high churn and the challenge of converting users to paid subscribers.
Being aware of these user dynamics will allow you to set clear expectations for both your stakeholders and users.
A health app focused on habit building cannot follow the same pace as an app solely dedicated to sales or providing a one-time service.
With this understanding, let's explore the concept of gamification.
Basics of Gamification for Health Habit-Building Apps
What is Gamification?
Gamification involves the use of game techniques and dynamics to enhance motivation in solving a problem or performing a task.
How does this benefit the Health Habit-Building Apps?
Gamification increases user retention and engagement, encouraging them to use the app for an extended period. Over time, users experience the benefits of forming new habits.
How Can I Start Implementing Gamification?
You have two options:
Await my upcoming piece where I'll discuss Gamification and Habit Building for various apps, bridging theory and practice. 😊
Watch this video by Nir Eyal to gain an initial understanding of the subject.
Can I Apply These Practices Beyond Habit-Building Apps?
Yes, ultimately, all apps require users to acquire a habit for daily use.
🎯 Lesson 2 - Be Clear with the Value Proposition of Your App
"Do not bite off more than you can chew" is a saying that holds true, especially in the realm of habit-building apps. In this market, you can find two extremes.
On one hand, there are apps that specialize in teaching a single habit to address a specific problem. On the other hand, there are apps that cover multiple problems with multiple solutions.
I believe you could deduce from what I said before, that I do not recommend adopting the approach of addressing numerous problems with multiple solutions.
I know it's easy to succumb to the temptation of expanding your product in various directions to quickly reach product-market fit. However, this can severely confuse your users.
Strive to put more effort into pre-launch discovery, ultimately selecting a maximum of 2 to 3 related problems to address. This way, if a pivot is necessary, the change won't be overly drastic.
👮🏽♂️ Lesson 3 - Handle Sensitive Data with Care
Every industry has its complexities when it comes to data. However, the healthcare industry has an additional layer of complexity that you may not fully grasp until you work in the field.
Whether your product is in the MVP stage or it's already in the Growth or Maturity phase, do not take risks. Prioritize privacy and the protection of your users' health data.
I understand that in the early stages of the product, having a legal team is not typical, but it's essential not to engage in poor practices.
You don't want to fall victim to a breach like what happened to 23andMe.
🕰 Lesson 4 - Time Spent Capturing Qualitative Feedback Can Be Significant
During the discovery phase of the last HealthTech app I worked on, I noticed two things.
Depending on the problem we are addressing, users will feel more or less comfortable sharing feedback.
The fact that they have to use the app for an extended period to reap benefits prolongs the time it takes to receive this feedback.
What does this translate to for the Product Manager?
Aside from the obvious delay in receiving qualitative data, it's essential to clearly communicate this to your superiors. This conversation can serve as a bridge to a collective brainstorming session on how to overcome this obstacle.
It might not be your case, but that's what we observed in our last experience.
If you have any advice on how to encourage health app users to share feedback, I'd love to hear from you in the comments 😊.
❌ Lesson 5 - Not All Problems Can Be Solved with Software
One of the first things we made clear at the start of the Discovery process for Emma was that if we started falling in love with a problem that had no solution, we would set it aside.
Emma wanted to develop a digital product to help people sleep better. Thanks to having a specialist in the field of sleep, we could use their advice to avoid getting entangled with impossible-to-solve problems.
Sleep issues that require external elements for treatment, chronic problems - there are certain complexities we may not be fully aware of that can lead you to invest time in the impossible.
Be clear with your team, set boundaries, and above all, listen to them.
You don't want to fall into what Y Combinator calls "tarpit ideas," which are essentially problems that have been around forever but can't be solved due to their complexity and structure.
Hello, everyone! How's the week going?
I've been a bit busy with a new client and my attendance at the Sitges Film Festival.
There are many problems to solve in the entertainment industry, so if you have ideas for an MVP, I'm all ears 😜.
If you've made it to the end, thank you so much 🎉 🥳. It was challenging to select the most important things to highlight. You can learn a lot in a year in Product, so I hope these insights are useful for you.
👾 My next post will be "Gamification and Hook: Enhancing Engagement. I'll discuss the theory and put it into practice with a real case.
☄️ I'm working on a new series called "Product Manager in X" where I interview seasoned PMs in different industries for those interested in transitioning to those fields.
💪🏽 My schedule is open for Interim Product Management projects starting in November. If you know anyone in need of Product expertise in Health Tech, Retail, or Travel Tech, I'm happy to help 😊.
Take care! And see you next week.
Jorge Herna