Sanofi
Regaining Brand Trust

We reconvened teams to present and pressure-test the findings—most notably, the clear lack of trust in big pharma, driven by perceptions of product-led bias. Rather than working around this, we treated it as the core opportunity.

This led to a defining idea—our core service design innovation: a Sanofi-funded, unbranded platform providing access to credible, verified medical and scientific information. Built around real HCP behaviours, it delivered curated, specialty-relevant content, bite-sized summaries with deeper dive options, on-the-go access via text-to-speech, and peer learning through content sharing and expert-led sessions connecting senior and junior practitioners.

The design team moved at pace through a series of focused sprints, rapidly translating early concepts into lo-fi wireframes to validate core service flows and feature sets. This allowed us to test assumptions quickly, align stakeholders, and iterate in real time—ensuring the experience was grounded in actual HCP needs rather than internal hypotheses.

In parallel, we established a foundational design system to bring consistency, scalability, and speed to development. This enabled a seamless transition into a high-fidelity prototype that brought the service to life—showcasing key features, interaction patterns, and the overall user experience, while providing a tangible artefact to drive stakeholder buy-in and accelerate decision-making.

User testing was conducted in a controlled environment, with the service introduced as fully unbranded and not affiliated with any pharmaceutical company. HCPs responded positively, indicating strong intent to engage. They valued access to peer-reviewed articles, journals, and white papers, and appreciated features that reflected how they work—selecting areas of interest, diving deeper into content, saving for later, and consuming information on the go through text-to-audio..

The pivotal moment came when we revealed the service was funded by Sanofi. Rather than reinforcing scepticism, perceptions shifted. HCPs saw it as a meaningful contribution—supporting their development as clinicians and helping them deliver better patient outcomes. What began as a trust barrier became a lever for differentiation, reframing Sanofi’s role from product provider to enabler of better care.

The strength of user testing did more than validate the concept—it shifted internal conviction. What began as cautious exploration quickly turned into active sponsorship, with leadership recognising the potential to address a long-standing engagement gap. This marked a clear inflection point, moving the initiative from proof of concept into a funded pilot.

Feedback from HCPs was synthesised into targeted design iterations, sharpening both the experience and feature set. The result was a refined platform ready for real-world deployment—rolled out as a pilot to 700 doctors across Japan, signalling both confidence in the approach and a tangible step toward scaling a new model of HCP engagement.