Ben Finlay on Weather a Taste Test Can Measure Your Mood | PART 1

What happens when mental health support is designed around the person, not the process?

In part one of this three-part Trail Blazers conversation, our founder Johnny sits down with life science leader and founding director of Ranvier, Ben Finlay, to explore how better design, health technology and clearer communication together could change the way people start conversations about their mood, get diagnosed and treated.

Ben, whose career spans clinical research, medical devices and digital health, talks to us about technology company Ranvier. He explains the problem from the ground up. Booking a GP appointment takes courage, a six-minute consultation and a paper questionnaire can feel like a poor fit for something deeply personal, and too many conversations never reach the next step. Ranvier's answer, currently in research with the NHS, is a simple, low-cost taste test that arrives through the letterbox and gives people an objective mood score they can track over time.

For anyone working in design, user experience or healthcare communications, this is a masterclass in user-centred thinking. Ben and Johnny discuss removing barriers to access, offering that first step at home or in a community pharmacy and structuring difficult conversations so people can express how they feel with confidence. They also explore why clarity gives people agency and how the idea that "action absorbs anxiety" applies as much to good UX as it does to wellbeing.

Along the way, Ben shares the science behind the test, the thinking behind the research and stories from participants who used their results to take a confident next step, from starting a conversation with their GP to making small lifestyle changes.

Whether you work in digital health, service design, brand strategy or healthcare communications, this episode shows how thoughtful design can make complex science human, accessible and actionable.

This is part one of a three-part conversation with Ben Finlay. Watch the full episode now.