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Interactive Apps & Experiences

Custom Medical & Scientific Interactive Apps & Conference Experiences

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Interactive Apps & Experiences

Medical and scientific interactive apps and conference experiences make learning fun and high-science concepts easier to understand. Custom apps put engaging disease state education and mechanism of action 3D content in the hands of your MSLs and sales reps. These experiences are tailored to fit the specific needs of different users and content types. Our custom medical device and technology apps make self-guided product demonstrations highly engaging.

Looking to increase engagement in your medical affairs exhibit booth? Unique medical & scientific interactive activities give conference attendees extra value for visiting your booth and a memorable experience. With one-of-a-kind immersive experiences, we’ve given rheumatologists arthritis and dermatologists psoriasis, put healthcare providers face-to-face with a virtual patient, shown neurologists activity in their brains, and let oncologists battle cancer cells head to head!

Medical and scientific apps and interactive conference experiences we’ve created for biopharma and medical device companies include: educational games; disease state simulators; experience walls; holograms; photo booths; virtual reality (VR); augmented reality (AR); and mixed reality (MR)

Why Invest in an Interactive App or Conference Experience?
  • To supercharge engagement and learning. Interactivity gives users agency and actively involves them in your medical science content, resulting in better retention than if they had watched a video or read a screen.
  • To attract more visitors to your scientific congress booth. Visually-intriguing and well-designed interactive experiences are proven to increase visitor traffic and engagement when compared to passive booth materials.
  • To get to know your customers better. With interactivity, HCPs press buttons, make choices and answer questions. We log this information to provide you with valuable analytics on user interests and knowledge gaps regarding your scientific content.
  • To reach your audience through multiple channels. One app or experience can be deployed to your congress booth, your website, and tablets (iPad, Android) for in-person meetings.
  • It’s an investment that lasts. With our lifecycle management, scientific apps and conference experiences can be periodically updated and scaled for different uses. For example, Build a Biosimilar was utilized at 33 scientific congresses over 5 years and deployed to science liaison iPads.

The AXS Studio difference

What makes an interactive app or experience successful with science-savvy users? Start with a human-centered design approach that prioritizes learning objectives and scientific accuracy. Build in elements of fun and discovery to spark curiosity, and finish with flawless execution and customer support.

axs-studio-medical-congress-booth-interactive-dermatology-experience

The right team

Delivering extraordinary scientific apps and conference experiences requires an exceptional team: multidisciplinary, highly creative, and science-literate. At AXS Studio, our in-house medical communication designers, animators and developers work hand-in-hand. We combine user experience (UX) design, science visualization, and interactive programing to bring unique, inspiring ideas to life. With graduate training, certification, and deep experience in biomedical communications, we ensure your content is presented accurately from the wireframe through to final delivery.

Design for results

Agencies will often start with a technology—eg. VR or AR—and design a medical or scientific conference experience to fit. We believe it’s important to prioritize learning objectives. We design using the tech best suited to meet those objectives and that will deliver the results you’re after. For us, a great user experience goes beyond new and flashy tech. It’s about feeling engaged with your content. We use interactive technology—be it gesture tracking, mixed reality or a hologram—to facilitate an unforgettable connection with your message.

Prepared for success

Getting interactive apps and experiences through medical, regulatory, promotional and/or compliance reviews presents unique challenges. A multiplayer oncology game, for example, is beyond the experience of most reviewers. Content and user activity must be presented in a format that is easily understood and efficient to review. For non-linear experiences, in which users choose their own paths through content, all possible user journeys must be clearly mapped out. At AXS Studio, we’ve shepherded dozens of “out of the box” apps and conference experiences successfully through our clients’ review processes.

Unexpected Ideas

Interactivity connects people with learning experiences in ways not possible with traditional media. This unlocks creative possibilities for medical and scientific communications. For instance, we can demonstrate pathophysiology on a live scan of the learner, or have them search for sites of disease. Dynamic content can be explored by multiple users at their own pace. And customers can simulate using new medical technology rather than simply watching or reading about it. Using a design thinking approach, we tap into our collective creativity to reveal unexpected ideas made possible through interactivity.
Frequently Asked Questions

What is the process of starting an app or conference experience project with your company?

If you’d like to learn more about medical and scientific interactive development services, simply contact us with information about your project, including learning objectives and timelines. We’ll schedule a consultation call to discuss your needs and provide you with a custom proposal and estimate for review.

Why hire AXS Studio for a medical science app or experience over another agency?

Most healthcare or medcomm agencies outsource their interactive design and development to generalist interactive developers. AXS Studio is unique in the medcomm/scicomm space for exclusively employing scientifically trained designers and digital artists. Our medical communication designers, medical illustrators and medical animators have scientific backgrounds. And each holds an M.Sc. degree in biomedical communications from one of the five graduate programs accredited by CAAHEP. They are formally trained in cell biology, anatomy, physiology, pathology and molecular visualization. We have over 20 years experience visualizing complex medical science for discerning HCP audiences. Five Board Certified Medical Illustrators (CMIs) on our team ensure scientific accuracy on every interactive project. We speak your language and communicate complex scientific concepts more accurately and clearly than generalist interactive developers.

What determines the cost of interactive apps and experiences?

Pricing generally reflects the complexity required, both of the experience and visuals. Our fees take into account:

  • Experience design
  • Visual asset creation
  • 3D/2D animation
  • Programming (game or web development)
  • Custom hardware/electronics
  • Testing and deployment and support


All content creation, design and development is done inhouse at our Toronto studio. There are no cost markups passed on to our clients. If you would like an estimate for your interactive app or experience, please reach out.

What’s included in the cost of an interactive app or conference experience?

We’re a full-service studio, with in-house capabilities covering the full development pipeline. Our quotes include ideation, UX design, content research and script writing, wireframing, 3D modeling and animation, user interface (UI) design, audio production, programming, testing, support and training. Along the way, we prepare materials for MLR review and can handle submission via Veeva or other CMS, if desired.

We take our content research seriously. Our scientifically trained designers and digital artists immerse themselves into the primary literature for your content. Before drawing a single wireframe panel, we compile a meticulous visual research deck to support the creation of all visual assets. We’re committed to ensuring your science is communicated accurately.

How do clients say AXS Studio is different?

Clients frequently express relief after switching to AXS Studio. They cite challenges faced with their previous agencies:

  • Inflexibility with late MLR-required content updates
  • Stressful, last-minute deliveries
  • Surprise onsite technical problems at their exhibit booth
  • Lack of support when something goes wrong
  • Unexpected charges from the agency to fix their own errors
In contrast, clients have described AXS Studio as “a talented and reliable partner”. They’ve cited “the incredible quality and attention to detail in [our] work,” and “the commitment [we] have to pulling off the impossible.” Clients express relief at no longer worrying about making deadlines or being surprised with unplanned overages after a project delivers. And AXS Studio collaborates exceptionally well with booth and AV suppliers, who say we’re “always thinking ahead and thinking proactively.
 
When it comes to results, biopharma companies know they can rely on AXS Studio to deliver unique, creative interactive media solutions “that boost traffic and HCP engagement at … congress booths.” But don’t take our word for it, see what our clients have to say, themselves.
 

How long does it take to make an interactive app or conference experience?

If you have a launch date or scientific congress you’re targeting, it’s important to get started early. This is especially true if your company has an involved material review and approval process. While timelines depend on the scope and content of the experience, they typically range from four to six months. We recommend contacting us at least 6 months ahead of your deadline to be safe. We’ll include a detailed timeline with key milestones in your project proposal.

What’s the length of a typical scientific interactive conference experience?

We recommend targeting 5 minutes or less for a conference experience or app. HCPs are busy people, with limited time to absorb your content. This is true for both scientific congress booth settings and in-person MSL meetings. It can be tempting to cram as much content as possible into an interactive experience. However, what matters most is making a positive and memorable impression, while imparting a few key messages. We recommend focusing on no more than three key information takeaways and an enjoyable experience.

What are the steps to creating a medical science app or conference experience?

  1. First, define your learning objectives and primary audience. The audience will inform the target reading level and complexity of your scientific content.
  2. Provide key resources to your supplier. These may include journal review papers, scientific posters and scientific presentation decks.
  3. Your supplier will then provide a content outline for you to review and approve.
  4. Next comes a script with proposed voiceover and/or onscreen text, or “supers”. Scripts typically go through two rounds of review.
  5. A wireframe maps out the content, UX and UI using drawings, in order to get alignment from all stakeholders before development begins. There are typically two rounds of wireframe review, followed by an MLR review. If MLR review results in revisions, another wireframe update may be needed before proceeding with alpha development.
  6. Following wireframe approval, an alpha application is developed. Alpha is for review and approval of the user experience and draft visuals. It is usually accompanied by sample still renderings that show the proposed final look. The alpha application goes through user testing to identify and implement areas for improvement.
  7. Beta application development incorporates any revisions from alpha. At this stage we conduct system testing with your booth and/or AV suppliers. The beta version presents the final look, includes final audio, and is submitted for MLR review and approval.
  8. Following MLR approval, the final application is deployed to production hardware. This can range from MSL iPads to custom booth electronics.

Who uses medical and scientific interactive apps and conference experiences?

Medical and scientific communications managers use interactive experiences to educate healthcare providers at medical affairs congress booths. The subject matter typically is disease state and/or mechanism of action. Congress experiences are often repurposed on medical affairs websites, providing ongoing support to providers.

Product managers and marketing managers commission interactive apps to demonstrate new medical devices and technologies healthcare providers.

Medical science liaisons (MSLs) and sales representatives use medical and scientific interactive apps in field work for physician meetings. These apps may be deployed to laptops, iPads and/or Android tablets.

Educational institutions such as universities, museums and science centers use science games and interactive experiences to engage the public and get visitors excited about science learning.

Is a dedicated facilitator necessary to run an interactive experience at my booth?

We recommend assigning a facilitator to engage visitors and introduce them to the experience. We design interactive apps and experiences to be used without support by making them simple to use and providing on-screen and audio instructions. Nonetheless, a human touch always results in higher participation and better user experiences. Many companies use trained facilitators for this purpose. Here’s an agency we’ve had great experiences with.

Many of your scientific conference experiences use custom physical kiosks. Does AXS build these?

AXS Studio usually does the preliminary design of physical kiosks. We then coordinate with our clients’ booth suppliers who build structure to our recommended specifications. Sometimes we design and fabricate custom kiosks and electronics in house when their function is central to the interactive experience. And we with clients’ AV vendors to determine optimal hardware and pretest applications on hardware being used for an exhibit. We ensure everything is tested and production-ready, ensuring a successful launch for your booth experience.