Design Thinking gets things rolling: First Aid Training Truck from Ratiopharm

How a team developed a Design Thinking lighthouse project in an internal company workshop that covers the areas of health, education, and digitalization. The initiative: “#10000SaveLives”. The posed example challenge within the workshop: “Redesign the first aid experience for non-professionals”. 

Design Thinking workshops with us at the HPI d-school are more than just training for innovative and agile working. This case study shows that they can have an impact on the lives of thousands of people.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. is one of the world's leading generics companies.
In 2018, Teva/ratiopharm booked a Design Thinking workshop with us, which gave rise to the initial moment for the "First Aid Training Truck" and the Germany-wide initiative "#10000LivesSave". Two years later, the employees of the international pharmaceutical company brought the state-of-the-art life-saving training tool onto the road. In October 2021, the circle was closed when the "First Aid Training Truck" drove up to the campus of the Hasso Plattner Institute.

Teva/ratiopharm wanted to learn the agile way of working in an application-oriented way, experience and implement Design Thinking, rethink internal processes and working methods and increase its own ability to innovate. All of these wishes led Teva/ratiopharm to us at the HPI d-school.

We then trained a seven-person, interdisciplinary team from Teva/ratiopharm in the Design Thinking method at the company's headquarters in Ulm. Within just two days, the participants experienced a completely new way of thinking and working in a tailor-made workshop.

Program lead and Design Thinking coach Marc Stussak accompanied the team. They started the Design Thinking process with an example challenge: "Redesign the first-aid experience for non-professionals".

We designed a Design Thinking workshop especially for Teva/ratiopharm. The participants learned the theoretical principles and content of the individual Design Thinking phases and applied them practically in teamwork sessions.

First, it was important to create a common understanding of the example challenge. Two teams were formed to conduct real user interviews at the nearby University of Ulm. The insights gained and user needs enabled new solutions. The teams developed creative approaches to meet the problems and needs in an innovative and user-centered way. With the help of various creative methods, the team quickly came up with a simple, interactive and testable prototype via "concretization and visualization".

The idea of the "First Aid Training Truck" was born, took shape and immediately went into the prototype test phase. Additional employees from Teva/ratiopharm joined as testers and provided valuable and unfiltered feedback.

The test scenario was special because the testers were able to immerse themselves in the scenery as best as possible, experience it realistically and interact in it. Role plays clarified user feedback and helped to concretize the basic idea.

The exchange with real, potential users surprises and inspires. The Design Thinking process promotes innovative and human-centered ideas.

One of the most exciting insights for the Teva/ratiopharm team came from direct contact with potential users. The campus of the University of Ulm was ideally suited for real field research and the implementation of user interviews on the topic of "first aid". The two interview teams were positively surprised by the openness of the respondents. When the interviewers signaled that they wanted to listen above all and learn from the respondents and their experiences, they were very patient, interested and communicative. The Teva/ratiopharm employees thus gained a new, positive learning experience.

Another "aha moment" arose when a user need was implemented into a testable prototype. The Teva/ratiopharm employees learned completely new and unfamiliar approaches. They concretized the selected idea with simple prototypes, created a test scenario in the workshop room and simulated the idea in a role play.

It was also noteworthy that the team increasingly communicated visually during the prototype construction phase. The non-verbal communication and the creative implementation of ideas in the room were also very positive experiences.

The initially critical attitude of some employees towards the topic of "Design Thinking" changed at the latest when they applied and experienced the process themselves. They recognized the added value and the innovation potential of the agile and user-centered approach. Their skepticism turned into great enthusiasm.