Phoenix Medical Group is a leading pharmaceutical organisation, made up of several companies that specialise in medicine distribution, pharmaceutical care, and pharmacy-based primary care services. The group works in partnership with the NHS, healthcare commissioners and providers, as well as pharmaceutical manufacturers.

The Challenge

Following the acquisition of Hey Pharmacist, Phoenix Medical wanted to grow the app’s commercial proposition by expanding the services and products offered.

Phoenix Medical tasked SPARCK and BJSS with identifying an MVP proposal for generating over-the-counter (OTC) pharmacy product sales via the app. The goal was to position the app as a ‘trusted advisor’ to its client base and provide added value to consumers with educational content, as well as a seamless and compelling route to purchase, and an effective delivery methodology via delivery or in-store pick up.

The Approach

The SPARCK team aimed to learn about opportunities, risks and prospects associated with OTC, and map out potential options and pain points in the journey. User research allowed the team to scope out patients’ views on sales within the app, and understand where this could align with Phoenix Medical’s goals.

The SPARCK team interviewed 16 stakeholders, taking in a range of views including members of the Board, the product teams, the superintendent pharmacist, heads of marketing and customer engagement, and the Head of Digital Strategy in Europe, amongst others.

To supplement desk research and stakeholder interviews, the team interviewed nine users to gain indicative views on sales within the app. The team set put to understand who Hey Pharmacist customers are, how they feel about using the app, and any challenges they had.

SPARCK created a 10-day design proposition sprint to help identify OTC opportunities through collaborative design, prototyping, and testing with users. A technical assessment was also conducted at this stage.

To develop ideas and hypotheses to test with users, SPARCK facilitated three remote co-creation workshops with key Phoenix stakeholders. The structure of the workshops was designed to first capture individual perspectives and preferences and then combine thinking through team exploration in breakout rooms.

Following the workshops, the team developed a set of hypotheses to test through tangible designs in the form of prototypes to put in front of users. The SPARCK team then used feedback from users to develop an MVP that offered OTC within Hey Pharmacist.

The Results

What was achieved in six weeks

MVP Proposition

To generate rapid feedback on whether people would purchase OTC in the Hey Pharmacist app, SPARCK proposed building an initial version of OTC integration for a subset of users and selected pharmacies, making OTC available to select in the app, then purchase in a local pharmacy where they would be collected.

MVP Prototype

The proposition involved two release phases. The first suggested OTC products during current repeat prescription ordering journey, while the second advanced into selling products via a shop front linked to a patient's nominated pharmacy, outside of existing journeys.

Technical Assessment

The technical architect conducted a technical assessment looking into the feasibility of fulfilling product orders as well as exploring e-commerce layer options.