The Future of Cancer Prevention
Designing a digital service to empower preventive health action
UX Research
Design Strategy
Healthcare Innovation
PROJECT BREAKDOWN
Challenge
Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) tasked our team with identifying best practices for cancer prevention across four key areas: data sharing, risk framing, sustained engagement, and community hub services.
Goal
Create a compelling, scalable solution that encourages preventive behaviors and reimagines engagement with long-term health.
Tools
Figma, Adobe Creative Suite
Roles
Interviewing, Data Analysis, Project Management, Concept Development
Details
Team: Andrea, Blue, Nikki, Roberto, Urba
Timeline: 12 weeks
Research
The team conducted secondary research and in-depth interviews with professionals across healthcare, nonprofits, insurance, food systems, and education, resulting in 20 case studies.
Outcome
We created Helios, a digital health service that supports individuals on a personal journey toward cancer prevention. Our team created a future-forward service model that helps users take proactive steps through genetic testing, care coordination, and behavior change support guided by AI and rooted in empathy.
HELIOS
Helios is a digital health companion that helps users schedule and understand genetic testing, coordinate care, and engage with a conversational AI for daily health guidance. Helios leverages insights from behavioral science, emerging tech, and systems design to create trust, support progress, and normalize prevention as part of daily life.
Easy Genetic Test
Schedule, track, and understand your results with built-in support.
Community Health Hub
Connect to local programs, events, and trusted partners.
AI Health Companion
Get personalized advice, daily nudges, and real-time coaching.
Care Coordination
Book appointments and access telehealth without the hassle.
How Helios Is Designed
Trust First
User-controlled, transparent data sharing with plain-language explanations.
Built for Engagement
Timely, actionable prompts delivered where and when they matter.
Empathetic Risk Framing
Relatable, bold messaging that encourages progress over perfection.
Powered by Partnerships
Integrated with local partners to expand access and amplify impact.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Case Studies
The research insights were synthesized into 20 cross-sector case studies.
Insights and Implementation
The case studies were synthesized into a set of insights that informed the Helios’s design.
Insight
Example
Implementation
INSIGHT: Be Relatable
-
Be bold and honest about the realities of cancer and the everyday struggle to be healthy.
-
Focus on harm reduction (not perfection) and celebrate the successes (not the deficit).
-
Use credible messengers.
-
Reduce uncertainty by offering comparisons, hypotheticals, and vivid pictures.
EXAMPLE: Prep Campaign
LA LGBT Center’s “F**k Without Fear” campaign encourages the use of the PrEP pill by using the language of its target audience to overcome concerns.
IMPLEMENTATION: Empathetic Risk Communication
Honest, relatable messaging focused on harm reduction (not fear) supported by credible voices and helpful comparisons.
INSIGHT: Go to where people/data are
-
Offer services across the entire journey, and “do it for them” when you can.
-
Seize the day: find high-affinity moments to discuss health behaviors.
-
Trigger immediate action: don’t let it become an item in a to-do list.
-
Provide a physical space to bring the community together and to you.
EXAMPLE: Cure Violence
Cure Violence engages with local business owners, faith leaders, and service providers to convey the message that violence is a behavior that can be changed.
IMPLEMENTATION: Sustained, Smart Engagement
Helios meets users in their daily lives with timely nudges through calendars, wearables, and messaging apps. Strategic prompts during high-affinity moments encourage action, while local partnerships turn individual health choices into shared community habits.
INSIGHT: Partner to normalize and multiply
-
Be there when decisions are made.
-
Gather analytics to understand the context around a person’s decision and behavior.
-
Leverage partnerships to recommend behavior change.
EXAMPLE: Starbucks App
Starbucks partners with companies that are already in the realm of their customer’s sphere of entertainment.
IMPLEMENTATION: Partnered for Impact
Helios works with community orgs, local businesses, and healthcare providers to meet people where decisions happen and make prevention the norm.
Originally conducted in 2017, this project was updated in 2025 to integrate modern technologies such as AI and personalized digital health tools.