On June 19, 2025, the EVOLVE2CARE Training Series for HealthTech Innovators and Researchers continued with its second session, gathering over 20 participants for an engaging webinar on “Design Thinking in Action — A Living Lab Approach to HealthTech Innovation.” The session was led by Ioannis Poultourtzidis, Coordinator of the ThessAHALL Living Lab, a pioneering hub for health and wellbeing innovation, driven by the AUTH Lab of Medical Physics and Digital Innovation based in Northern Greece since 2014.
This insightful session offered a practical look at how Living Labs, when combined with Design Thinking, can empower researchers and innovators to build HealthTech solutions that are ethical, inclusive, and truly responsive to user needs. It addressed one of the core challenges in health innovation: too many technologies are developed without real-world validation. Living Labs help address this challenge by involving real users in real contexts, enabling co-creation and testing that lead to more relevant and usable solutions.
The 3-Step framework for impactful HealthTech innovation
At the core of the session was a practical 3-step framework developed to accelerate HealthTech solutions:
- Understand
Innovation begins with an in-depth exploration of user needs, challenges, and environments. This phase involves stakeholder mapping, needs assessment, and early framing of design hypotheses. Living Labs enable immersion into users’ real-life settings — homes, clinics, and communities — without artificial filters. Special attention is given to capturing gender-sensitive and inclusive insights, ensuring solutions reflect the full diversity of users.
- Engage
This step focuses on co-creation with all relevant stakeholders — patients, caregivers, clinicians, policy-makers, insurers, and technologists. Rather than gathering feedback after development, Living Labs bring stakeholders into the design process itself through co-design workshops, design sprints, and digital collaboration platforms. This inclusive, participatory model ensures that the solutions developed are relevant, feasible, and widely accepted. Innovation thrives on collaboration!
- Build for impact
The final step emphasizes rapid prototyping, real-world testing, and iteration. Living Labs allow innovators to trial functional prototypes directly with users in authentic environments. This accelerates learning, reduces development risks, and ensures technical and business feasibility. The process supports agile development by turning insights into measurable outcomes, such as improved health, increased usability, and meaningful adoption
Innovation journey – 4 Phases
Living Lab Networks guide innovators through each of the four phases: design, technology, business, and impact.
Design: Human-centered design frames the solution based on desirability and real needs
Technology: Prototypes are tested for technical feasibility within Living Lab environments
Business: Viable business models are validated, considering cost, sustainability, and market fit
Impact: Solutions are evaluated on outcomes such as improved patient care, usability, and long-term value
This journey ensures that innovation is not just about new technology, but about developing sustainable, scalable solutions that create measurable value for healthcare systems and the people they serve.
Why Living Labs matter in HealthTech?
Living Labs offer a unique environment to design with, not just for, users by:
- Providing access to diverse populations in natural settings
- Capturing real-time feedback and behavioral insights
- Helping de-risk innovation by validating usability and integration early
- Supporting ethical, GDPR-compliant, and inclusive research practices
What’s next in the EVOLVE2CARE training sessions series for HealthTech Innovators and Researchers?
The next session in the series, “Building a Sustainable HealthTech Business – A Founder’s Journey,” will take place on July 17, 2025, at 15:00 CEST. Participants will have the opportunity to hear from Panagiotis Katsaounis, CEO of Metabio, as he shares the real-world story of growing a HealthTech startup from idea to validated solution. The session will explore key business decisions, unexpected challenges, and the strategic pivots that shaped the company’s journey, offering a grounded look into the entrepreneurial side of healthcare innovation.
