Our Portfolio

INDUSTRY

Healthcare

PLATFORM

Mobile, Desktop, Medical Device

SERVICES

Design: Game and Marketing Material Design

Research: Ethnographic Research

Development: 3 Custom Coded Learning Simulations

Strategy: Conference and Brand Experience Strategy

At a Glance

Arthrex is a global leader in surgical devices and medical education, and UEGroup has a long history of partnering together to bring innovation to the medical device field. Arthrex’s commitment to medical education extends beyond tools to provide comprehensive training and innovative, interactive experiences from their Naples, FL headquarters. When it came time to explore how to engage new audiences and educate surgeons at major trade shows around Arthrex’s minimally invasive procedures and commitment to supporting them along the continuum of care, they tagged our team.

We set out to conduct research onsite at conferences and turned our findings into a high-impact conference experience strategy where we introduced learning simulations. The result was enhanced trade show engagement, driving new business, and reinforcing Arthrex’s educational commitment.

The Challenge

Surgeons come to conferences to learn and network. Conferences offer extroverted surgeons a chance to socialize, connect with partners, and explore the latest buzzworthy experience whether that is a talk or at a booth. For introverted surgeons, these events can be daunting, making it challenging for sales teams to build valuable relationships for new business.

Arthrex needed a strategy that encouraged exploration and interaction without pressure. It also needed to bring something fresh to the trade show experience that would generate buzz. Focusing on endoscopic spine surgery, our objective was to create an untraditional way for surgeons to explore new procedures and attract their attention on the conference floor, while promoting Arthrex's key brand messages.

To successfully innovate, we first attended major medical tradeshows, observing 16 booth interactions, 24 presentations, and conducting 21 intercept interviews. We discovered surgeons expect to see the same things each year. To gain a surgeon’s attention, we would need to create a solution that shares new products and services in an immersive way. To keep a surgeon’s attention, we would need to take the experience further tapping into key emotional motivators to turn it into something they both resonate with and want to share with others, ultimately promoting the brand.

How We Did It

Surgeon’s Emotional Motivators

Our ethnographic research identified four emotional appeals: Exclusivity, Community, Competition, and Reassurance. While surgeons want to have mutually beneficial conversations and are looking for opportunities to build connections, it’s also important for them to feel "in the know" of what’s popular and enjoy opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and mastery of a domain.

Games and the competitive spirit inherent in surgeons were identified as a way to naturally bring all four appeals together in a single solution but needed to be approached delicately to avoid discouraging those who do not “win”. Understanding that an untraditional approach would garner attention, we focused on aligning our findings and strategy with Arthrex’s key differentiator—education.

Gamification of Surgical Education

One of the barriers to entry for endoscopic procedures is the learning curve associated with understanding anatomy in the zoomed in nature of the endoscope image. To address this and highlight Arthrex’s commitment to medical education, we created a series of interactive learning simulations, starting with Medial Branch Transection, Interlaminar Discectomy, and Transforaminal Discectomy.

Viewing videos of anatomy is one thing, but interactive simulations that let surgeons practice hands-on make the learning curve more manageable and communicate Arthrex’s commitment to helping surgeons navigate new procedures. This approach builds surgeon confidence in new procedures, gamifies the learning to foster competition, and adds a fun, interactive element to the conference experience. It also provides a valuable opportunity for interaction between Arthrex sales representatives and surgeons interested in bringing new procedures into their practice as a low-pressure conversation starter.

Iterative Testing For Improved Learning Simulations

Learning simulation designs were tested with surgeons to refine the experience and implement improvements. Testing revealed that while gamification was positively received, key changes needed to be made to maximize engagement:

Remove scoring to keep the experience enjoyable
Provide additional information and corrective feedback within the simulation for continuous improvement while acclimating to minimally invasive techniques
Include multiple procedure learning simulations on the home screen to build excitement and guide participants to different procedure types

The
Outcomes

Our final learning simulation designs captivated surgeons by merging competition and fun with training, allowing them to master new techniques through three levels of endoscopic procedures. They are also built scalable and adaptable to additional procedure types. Arthrex's commitment to medical education extends beyond tools, offering comprehensive training and resources from their Naples, FL headquarters. These innovative, interactive experiences set a new standard at conferences, making Arthrex the must-visit booth at trade shows and reinforcing their core mission to support surgeons with a full suite of educational resources.

The learning simulations designed and developed by our team are actively being used at medical trade shows and are a hit with surgeons. We continue to partner with Arthrex to create additional procedure simulations and a study found gaming is emerging as a valid teaching mechanism for arthroscopic surgery. We’re proud to keep Arthrex at the forefront of innovation and elevate their marketing experiences.

Want to try them out for yourself? Play here.

How Quickly Can You Learn Medial Branch Transection? Play Now!

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