Verizon was exploring an entry into the healthcare and retail pharmacy sector. They wanted to understand how technology—particularly mobile platforms, location data, and secure payment systems—could remove friction from the pharmacy experience and position them competitively against emerging players like Amazon PillPack.
Scope
Client
Duration
Year
Tandem was engaged to lead an innovation sprint, combining research, service design, and system mapping to uncover opportunities for Verizon to play meaningfully in this space.
When our team at Tandem joined, the brief was intentionally open-ended: innovate within the Rx space. My task was to make sense of a complex ecosystem that involved patients, pharmacists, insurers, and multiple layers of regulation, and to identify where experience design could make the biggest impact.
I started with immersive learning. We spent time in pharmacies, talking to pharmacists, patients, insurance reps, and pharmaceutical sales teams to see the process from every angle. Through those conversations, we mapped the full prescription journey — from the moment a doctor writes it to when a patient finally gets their medication.
Patterns emerged quickly. Patients were frustrated by unclear pricing, limited payment options, and a lack of transparency about insurance coverage. Pharmacists felt undervalued and overwhelmed by administrative work that left little room for patient care. Everyone agreed: the system felt disconnected.
To ground our insights, I conducted a landscape analysis across retail, digital, and direct-to-consumer health startups. Companies like PillPack, Capsule, Alto, and Hims/Hers were redefining expectations around convenience, aesthetics, and communication — but few connected the digital and in-store experience well. That insight became our north star: a seamless omni-channel pharmacy experience that empowers both patients and pharmacists.
From there, I explored how Verizon’s own strengths could enable this vision. By leveraging claims data, location-based services, and secure payment infrastructure, we imagined a model where patients could easily understand their coverage, compare pricing, pay in-app, and pick up prescriptions at any preferred location.
We delivered a research-backed framework and service blueprint that outlined how Verizon could enter the pharmacy market with clarity and purpose. Our work exposed key opportunity areas — from pricing transparency and app incentives to service models that celebrate pharmacists as trusted advisors.
More importantly, the project helped Verizon see that innovation in this space wasn’t just about technology — it was about rebuilding trust and empathy into an everyday health experience.
I have crafted experiences for some pretty cool brands and startups. Here’s a small sample of the work.
