IDEO: First Mile Health

 

Through much of 2020, we advised and collaborated with the design firm IDEO on their exploration of what it could mean to build health into everyday life. Over the course of their exploration, which was supported by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, IDEO held workshops with experts and stakeholders across the public health, health care, tech and design fields; interviewed a series of domain experts; and even took a data science approach to observe the language people use to talk about health. 

The work culminated in a vision they term “First Mile Health,” which they introduced in an article in IDEO Journal.

 

Work Products

 

Every Business Has a Part to Play in Building Better Health

Writing in the IDEO Journal, Joanne Cheung, an IDEO director, and Tim Brown, IDEO’s chair, argue that businesses can play a more impactful role in health by investing in -- and designing for -- what they call the ‘first mile of health.’ “By ‘First Mile Health,’” they write, “ we mean making a deliberate effort to design for the patterns of everyday life that keep people well—emotionally, physically, financially, and socially.”

 
 

First Mile Health (video)

In this accompanying animated video, IDEO delivers a succinct visual illustration of the First Mile Health concept.

 
 

First Mile Health (website)

The project website includes a set of opportunity targets, provocative design prompts, and a set of exemplary projects.