In real life, the prerequisite for creating something new and truly valuable is to gain better understanding of your clients’ and HCPs’ needs and expectations. But to achieve this, you must first discover what these needs are. Are these needs currently met by another drug or manufacturer? Why would HCPs choose you to meet these needs? How can their real needs be pinpointed?
Expressing these needs is often a difficult operation as people in general find it hard to project themselves into alternative situations. Although they are often able to share what they do or do not like, they are often more hard pushed to tell us what they would like. A projective process is thus required to achieve this objective…
In Healthcare Market Research, we use a projective exercise called the Imaginary House. This house has several rooms (the practice room, frustrations room, the expectations room etc.) which HCPs enter in turn and then describe what they see, do and feel. This exercise will enable us to address their habits, innermost desires but also what makes them frustrated, disappointed and anxious etc.