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Medtronic employs ethnographic research for new package

HealthPack 2015: Using ethnographic research leads to the development of medical device packaging.

This image shows surgical devices in an operating room theater.
This image shows surgical devices in an operating room theater.

Medtronic CardioVascular Senior Principal Packaging Engineer Sameer Upadhyaya’s HealthPack 2015 presentation focused on how the medical device manufacturer employed ethnographic research to remedy vexing packaging problems in the operating room (OR).

To develop its new CoreValve Evolut™ R Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) System, Upadhyaya said the Medtronic team conducted ethnographic research to observe how hospital opened and handled catheter packaging. The new Evolut R is about 4 in. longer than a previous catheter system, which brought an additional challenge.

Using a cross-functional team approach, Medtronic sought input to the following key questions:

• Would the new product require new packaging, or could a modified version of previous packaging be used?

• Who would be the key customers—both internal and external—at the forefront of using the device?

• What would customer needs (and wants) be?

• What would a successful package look like?

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