Building on the success of the Venture Design Playbook, Bayer returned to ADG to apply our healthcare venture design process. ADG led product and design sprints to create bold new healthcare platforms.

Opportunity: A Smarter Approach to Sharing at Bayer

How do you build widespread understanding and enthusiasm for a process that’s new, complex—and, importantly—avante-garde? You have to get creative.

ADG had previously partnered with Bayer Integrated Care Ventures, a new innovation arm of healthcare industry leader Bayer, to develop their foundational Venture Design Playbook (read the full case here). The Ventures team were already successfully implementing this comprehensive guide to develop innovative health products and services, and were poised to open new revenue streams in the hundreds of millions. However, to stand out at Bayer—with over 392 consolidated companies in 87 countries—the Ventures team needed to overcome internal barriers.

The Ventures team wanted to build additional trust and to create more expansive space for new products and services - some of which challenged conventional thinking within the organization. In order to win over more folks in the organization Bayer tapped ADG to partner on new healthcare solutions to highlight the Venture team’s approach while building new healthcare products.

Strategy: Meeting Challenges with Creativity

AGD jumped right in with the Ventures team to establish needs, constraints, and potential solutions. After interviewing team leaders, ADG determined high-level goals for the project:

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• Clearly and realistically communicate what Bayer Ventures does—highlighting the essentials and importance of its venture design process
• Create an engaging and market-ready concepts the Ventures team could gain support from the upper reaches of the organization
• Demonstrate the value that Ventures brings to Bayer, and beyond

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With these goals confirmed, ADG first developed a solution that spanned design and strategy. If key stakeholders didn't understand the venture process, it would be difficult for them to trust the solution. ADG apply expertise in healthcare product design to create a powerful visual identity for the playbook. This allowed ADG to help the Bayer team convey the value of the Ventures Playbook process.

ADG developed three alternative product designs for the next generation of healthcare innovation, following our Venture Design Playbook process.

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Design: From Speculative Products to Impactful Opportunities

Designing the next generation of health innovation

In close coordination with the Ventures team, ADG kicked off the design phase with a series of product design sprints. The mission: build concepts that felt like real health products or services Ventures might create—grounded in science, limited by constraints, and developed for actual users.

ADG facilitated interviews with team leaders to identify key product considerations, incorporating contextual research into business strategy, scientific data, and user needs. Applying best practices from speculative design, ADG then led the design process through brainstorming, ideation, and prototyping, following many of the same methods built into the Venture Design Playbook.

Importantly, ADG documented this design process, demonstrating realistically how a product concept might evolve at each stage of the actual Ventures Playbook process. This would help the Ventures team communicate the challenges they faced in product development—from materials constraints to shifting consumer preferences and market realities. Ultimately, ADG created a diverse suite of product designs, including:

• A wearable device using biomarkers to monitor kidney health
• A customizable line of nutritional supplements
• A smart at-home blood testing device

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Creative strategy for a powerful go-to-market launch

Coordinating the full team, ADG transitioned to product direction, weaving together process, products, and visuals into an actionable, go-to-market resource. ADG developed a package that included user insights, business modelling, and product specifications - including MVPs. ADG coached the team to pitch the product directions to the Ventures board for approval for additional time and funding to take these product directions into the go-to-market stage.

ADG developed a strong visual language, including custom illustrations, to capture and communicate the essence of Bayer Ventures.

Impact: Highlighting Ventures at Bayer and Beyond

As ADG and the Ventures team had worked closely throughout, the MVPs made a big splash, and were met with equally strong enthusiasm. The team was able to win further support for the power of venture design - with additional conversations being sparked about the wider implications for the organization.

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ADG’s work turned a tricky situation into a creative solution, helping establish Bayer Integrated Care Ventures as a new leader in healthcare innovation.

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