Cardionetics

In a fast-moving marketplace like healthcare, a university spin-out has discovered that continuous refinement of design is essential for long-term success

Background

Cardionetics is a Bracknell-based 'cardiac intelligence' specialist which designs heart-related diagnostic, monitoring and screening systems for healthcare professionals and patients.

The company's approach is unique because it is based on artificial intelligence, developed by Brunel University, which not only monitors but deciphers information about a patient's heart function. Cardionetics was spun out of Brunel in 1994. Launching its first product, the C.Net2000, five years later.

The C.Net2000 is a ground-breaking ECG heart monitor designed for use in general practice that identifies abnormal heart rhythms linked to strokes and cardiac diseases. It is lightweight and comfortable - so it can be worn on the move. This sets it apart from other equipment used to analyse heart rhythms, which tends to be workstation-based and require significant amounts of cardiac technician time to analyse results.

Problem

In 2003, Cardionetics wanted to update the C.Net2000 to keep pace with changing consumer expectations of wearable technology following the launch of the iPod. It used Designing Demand’s Innovate service to develop the product's successor, the C.Net5000.

Cardionetics CEO Philip Needham explains: ‘With the C.Net2000, we developed a basic prototype that we then tested with GPs. Then we further tested a pre-production prototype with healthcare professionals, but the process was quite time consuming. We wanted to find a way to get more information more quickly using a different product development process.’

Response

Cardionetics began working with Design Associate John Boult, but before identifying the best way to develop the new product, an initial analysis was conducted of the business, its strengths and weakness, achievements so far and future goals.

‘The starting point was what they should be focusing on as a business - a fundamental question to ask before honing in on the hows and whys associated with any product redesign,’ Boult explains.

‘We began by analysing what they were selling to whom, and whether that was still right for the market four years on. By creating a number of different user scenarios, we explored who uses this technology and how different groups might have different needs and preferences for how to use it, and where.’

Two key issues quickly became clear. Cardionetics needed to make sure the successor to the C.Net2000 made the most of latest technological developments. To stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace, meanwhile, Cardionetics had to clarify its brand and communicate it more effectively.

The electronics and software for the C.Net2000 - and its successor - were designed in-house. Its case was designed by external designers, but as most of the original designers had moved on by 2003, Cardionetics chose Datchet-based IDC to work on its successor.

‘Work with IDC was directed by a far more detailed design brief than had been the case when the C.Net2000 was developed,’ Needham says. ‘This included all we had learned through Designing Demand and also our fresh understanding of how to get information across to design companies.’

IDC developed the C.Net5000's casing in tandem with Cardionetics' development of the circuit board, IDC Project Manager Sergio Malorni explains. ‘We controlled risk by working closely with Cardionetics to evolve our design hand in hand with the work they were doing on the product's inner working,’ he says. ‘It was a highly collaborative approach.’

The C.Net5000 ECG monitor was launched in 2006. The product is lighter and easier to use than its predecessor. The same team then developed a sister product to the new model which launched a year later. This product, the MHM100, was developed in partnership with Medick Healthcare - a separate company set up by Cardionetics' former chair. It shares the core functionality of the C.Net5000 but with a simpler, easier-to-read data display.

Impact

Today, sales of the C.Net5000 are growing steadily. While more than 500 C.Net2000s are in use, the C.Net5000 is being bought at twice the rate. Following the end of its Designing Demand involvement, meanwhile, Cardionetics went ahead with the recommended update of its brand identity.

Greater focus on the end user was one of the key benefits of the Designing Demand process, Needham adds.

‘We took a lot of time and trouble to involve users of the C.Net2000 to find out what the strengths and weaknesses of the first generation product were. In addition, we built a small batch of prototypes in off-the-shelf cases but with fully functional electronics and software inside so that we could try out the user interfaces very thoroughly before committing to the final design,’ he says.

‘Innovate helped us to see new ways of applying design ... it has helped us to ensure we can continue selling our products successfully.’

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