How do you design a clinical trial from the patient’s perspective?
Human Behind Every Number is one of the largest research and design projects carried out by The Story for KCR, a global organization operating in the clinical research industry.
The starting point was a simple brief: to create a calendar featuring photos of patients from different countries. Instead of following the original brief, we asked a different question:
What can we do to truly understand the people behind the data from clinical trials?
This marked the beginning of a multi-year, international project combining ethnographic research, UX Research, Service Design, documentary production, strategy, communication, and technology.
We conducted dozens of interviews, workshops, and analyses across six therapeutic areas. Instead of speaking about patients, we decided to give them a voice.
We explored how clinical trial participants experience the entire process - from first encountering information about a trial, through screening and treatment, to its completion.
By conducting research across five countries, we were able to explore how clinical trials are perceived through the lens of local healthcare systems, culture, trust in institutions, relationships with doctors, and the way medical information is communicated. Ethnographic research helped us capture differences that would not have been visible in quantitative data or an analysis of the clinical trial process alone.
We combined patients’ experiences with insights from experts who view clinical trials through the lens of science, medicine, and research operations. In the United States, we interviewed leading experts affiliated with institutions including Harvard Medical School, Tufts Medical Center, and the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation. This added another dimension to the project: exploring how clinical trials could evolve in the future and what role patients should play in them.
We transformed dozens of hours of interviews and research materials into an interactive video platform. Instead of publishing a traditional report, we created a tool that allows users to explore participants’ stories independently - by clinical trial stage, patient emotions, country, and cultural context.
We translated the “Human Behind Every Number” idea into a visual language.
We created a visual identity system that made it possible to consistently tell participants’ stories across different formats - from research and communication materials to digital and video content.
For over a decade, The Story has supported KCR across branding, marketing, communication, and design, accompanying the brand throughout its dynamic growth.
During this time, KCR evolved from a Polish company into an international organization operating across Europe, Australia, and the US - demonstrating the value of a long-term partnership in scaling a brand.
Human Behind Every Number was one of the most ambitious outcomes of this collaboration - a project that brought together our years of knowledge of the client’s business with research, Service Design, technology, and communication.
HBEN received the iF Design Award in the Discipline Professional Concept category, recognizing the value of a human-centered design approach in the life sciences industry.