On the 3rd of April TheHill hosted a User-Centred Design workshop followed by a social mixer event at The Bioescalator Innovation Building on Old Road Campus.
TheHill is here to help anyone with a digital innovation for health and social care to find the right connections, experience and skills to succeed. We connect a broad community of entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, support services and investors to drive forwards innovations which will benefit patients and society at large.
We were delighted to hold this mixer event at The BioEscalator, a community of scientists and entrepreneurs who are dedicated to taking ideas forward towards clinical application, with space available to rent for small and growing companies.
We started our event with a workshop run by local design and innovation firm, Triteq: a multi-disciplinary business supporting breakthrough projects from life-changing safety critical medical devices to fitness apps. Participants learned about the principles of user-centred design, heard best-practice examples and gained an understanding of how to apply this methodology to their own projects.
“It was really helpful to think about how our users would approach our product. It gave me lots of new ideas.” – Bindi Malagamwala, Placeholder Industries
“We know we have a good product but I learned today there’s still a lot of work to be done to make it truly accessible.” – Dawid Kowalski, NotARealStartup
After the workshop, we hosted a social mixer with drinks and canapes, intended for everyone and anyone connected to TheHill. Forty attendees gathered in The Hub of the Bioescalator to discuss projects, share ideas and make connections.
Megan Morys-Carter, Director of TheHill, introduced speakers who each spoke briefly about how they could help with digital innovations in healthcare. Nicky Bromwich, Head of Commercial Development at the Oxford Academic Health Science Network explained how she can help startups shape their digital health products for the needs of the NHS. Fred Kemp from Oxford University Innovation introduced his team who help academics commercialise their research. Angela Hobbs, Managing Director of Tritec explained how her company helps startups prepare for meetings with investors with pitches, designs and prototypes. Mariana Morris from Fruto design studio talked about how she can help with user-centred design.
TheHill social mixer in The Hub of the Bioescalator.
“Digital health cannot happen in isolation. It requires a multi-disciplinary approach. The Hill’s work is key to bring together people concerned with digital healthcare from different paths.” Fred Kemp, Oxford University Innovation
Nicky Bromwich, Head of Commercial Development at the Oxford Academic Health Science Network, talks about shaping products for the needs of the NHS.
We’re delighted to see so many of you moving forward with your projects. Please let us know how else we can help you reach the next stage by emailing Flora Hatahintwali or if you have a more general idea for an event or workshop please comment in our suggestions box which is always open for your ideas.