Ben Finlay on Designing Mental Healthcare Around People | Part 3

Can technology make healthcare more human? In the final part of this three-part Trail Blazers conversation, our host Johnny returns to Ben Finlay, life science leader and healthcare advisor at Ranvier, to look at what it takes to turn promising science into something people can actually use.

Ben begins with the product itself. Ranvier’s platform is at alpha stage and has been used in approved research with GP practices, pharmacies and research associates. He explains how it has been shaped by user-centred design. Rather than a single interface, there are distinct views for the person taking the test, the research associate guiding them, and the GP, pharmacist or neuroscientist who may need to act on the results. Each is built around what that person needs to see, and when.

The conversation then turns to technology and attention. Johnny and Ben discuss how a platform could act as a timely nudge, a reminder after a few months to retest or speak to a professional, rather than another app competing for our screen time. It is a useful case study for anyone working in digital product design, behaviour change or healthcare communications.

They also cover Ben’s plans for the next phase: more research, an ambition to bring a home test kit to market by 2027, partnerships with universities on industrial design and academic research, and why scaling responsibly matters in a sensitive area like mental health. Ben is clear that the aim is to support practitioners, not replace them, so their time can be directed to people who may not feel able to ask for help.

Looking further ahead, he describes an ambition for a credit-card-sized passive sensing device, still five to seven years away, and why the human touch has to stay at the centre. As Ben puts it, people need people, and technology works best when it helps connect them.

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For anyone working in healthcare design, service design, brand or communications, this is a thoughtful look at how to build technology around people.

This is part three of a three-part conversation with Ben Finlay. Watch all three parts on our channel.

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This conversation is for general information only and isn’t medical advice.