Bringing Behavior Change through Design

MiniMed, an insulin pump manufacturer, came to RKS wanting to know why they were experiencing low adoption rates for their products. Although there was overall growth in the insulin pump market, sales for MiniMed were flat. RKS was challenged to uncover the reasons why and to integrate these insights into a game changing design.

RKS approached the problem from the first-person perspective. A team of four designers wore insulin pumps for four days pumping saline, as opposed to insulin, 24 hours a day to create the first person user perspective and uncover emotional factors at the root of low adoption rates. After many curious stares and questions from strangers to friends, the team concluded a stigma created by the overtly looking medical was behind the low adoption rates. Being perceived and treated as being sickly was causing patients to forego the benefit of MiniMed in order to avoid alienation.

Based on this paradigm shifting insight, the team came up with an empowering solution for the suffering end users. The team redesigned the device to resemble a pager with aesthetic design details and advanced materials. This transformed the medical device into a coveted status symbol. Within three years, adoption rates soared and MiniMed’s annual revenue jumped from $45 million to $171 million. Shortly thereafter, the MiniMed 507’s success led Medtronic to acquire MiniMed for $3.28 billion dollars.

“Three years after it was introduced, sales for the company had increased 357% and in 2001 MiniMed was acquired by Medtronic for $3.28 billion.”