Fusion Hill

Full Immersion.

fheditor — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:35:58 +0000

Call us impressionable, but as researchers, we take our work seriously and seek to truly understand our subject matter. When immersed in a new project, whether it’s about financial services, healthcare, or a CPG product, we often find ourselves adopting new habits we’ve picked up in field. Hiring a personal financial advisor, wearing elaborate eye make-up, eating extra amounts of Greek yogurt and buying treadmills are all behaviors our team has manifested as a result of our projects on money management, cosmetics, packaged food, and Diabetes. Our most recent hot project is profiling Millennials who bake. In addition to this sweet hobby, it turns out many Millennials also enjoy knitting as a pastime. Only a few weeks after observing this twentysomething crafting phenomenon, our own Millennials are making cakes AND now knitting hats and scarves over lunch. Who knows what our next research-related hobby or habit will be, let’s hope it’s a healthy one!

Heartfelt Hospice.

fheditor — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:16:17 +0000

For the last few weeks, Fusion Hill has been flying coast to coast to talk to a variety of involved consumers and participants about renaming a hospice, end-of-life and skilled nursing care program. According to participants (healthcare professionals who refer to these programs, patients who are referred, and the families of the patients receiving the referrals), the name needs to reflect the experience they wish to receive with the program. Their ideal is a program, facility and/or services that are compassionate and all-encompassing to inspire lasting trust and confidence. Using the reactions and evaluations of the prospective names from our research, our client will decide on the best-suited name for the program – one that consumers believe expresses the idea that they are receiving the best care that they want and need for their loved ones.

Bake Me a Cake.

fheditor — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:19:31 +0000

The Fusion Hill research team is satisfying a sweet tooth in a big way for the month of January. Conducting research for a major food client, we are rolling up our sleeves and tying on our aprons for some Millennial baking ethnographies. We are learning about the resurgence in baking amongst young Millennials by hanging out in their favorite local spots and watching them decorate and frost their baking creations.

What Works for You?

fheditor — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 06:15:29 +0000

Fusion Hill has been conducting one-on-one usability testing of online tools to help consumers determine a treatment path for their back pain and find the best provider in their area. As consumers navigate through the tools, they’ve told us what’s working for them and what’s not. Most importantly they’re telling us how they would redesign the tools to best suit their needs, both graphically and in terms of content. With this valuable information, our client will be armed to build a better way for consumers to find ways to manage their back pain, with a pain-free, online experience.

Holiday Ink.

fhstaging — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:57:08 +0000

We’re up to our elbows in ink. Our holiday card has been in development on screen for weeks, but today it comes to life in print. Silk screened here at Fusion Hill on Curious SKIN, this year’s greeting is sure to be brilliant.

Hope and Healing.

fheditor — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:56:48 +0000

Talking to patients about cancer is a delicate task. We recently returned from focus groups in Minneapolis and Atlanta discussing the various journeys of people with cancer and their healthcare decisions. Thank you to all the participants in this study. With your input, we hope to make paths to healing easier and more supportive in the future.

The Top Healthcare Expense.

fhstaging — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:16:51 +0000

Back pain is the #1 expense in healthcare and the #2 reason for patient visits to doctor’s offices. During a recent study on back pain, primary care physicians, orthopedic surgeons, and neurosurgeons described the complexity of treating this omnipresent medical condition. Surprisingly, according to the experts, the overwhelming majority of patients who suffer from back pain will get better on their own, regardless of treatment. This is an important finding when considering the great deal of money spent on diagnostic and treatment modalities for back pain that are not always conclusive or effective. Multiple doctors report that, “Sometimes it just takes our reassurance that their backs will naturally get better on their own.” This is an important message to the American population where a vast majority of adults suffer from back pain in their lives due to obesity, pregnancy, arthritis, spinal conditions, or just the natural aging of the body.

Help Me …

fhstaging — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:13:33 +0000

This week, we step into the field to talk to people about how they can better manage their healthcare – from illnesses, returning home after a hospital visit, to pregnancy and keeping up-to-date with tests and check-ups for mom and baby. We’re asking consumers how a specialized nurse could help them manage these life events and changes and how it would make their overall experience that much better. What do you need help managing?

Part of the Family.

fhstaging — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:14:30 +0000

We’re proud to announce our newest pro bono partnership! In 2011 and 2012 we will be working with Genesis II for Families. This is an organization that deserves some design love in return for all of their good work and dedication in strengthening families, empowering youth and changing lives in our community – since 1976. We’re excited to be helping them put a new face on their brand with a new name, logo and image system. Follow us here at on Twitter to watch our progress!

Revolution Evolution.

fhstaging — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:08:34 +0000

At Fusion Hill, we sometimes pause from our busy schedule in order to do some continued learning within our field. Last month, two Fusion Hill researchers attended The Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference (EPIC) in Boulder, Colorado. EPIC is a meeting of the minds for anthropologists, corporate and agency consumer insights researchers, designers, teachers, writers and dreamers on topics such as the changing role of ethnography in business. Some of the highlights included keynote speeches by former head of Creative for Apple, Hugh Dubberly and Science Fiction author, Bruce Sterling. Key attendees and corporate sponsors included Google, Intel, Microsoft, IBM and more. We collected many new ideas and are incorporating this inspiration into new strategy and deliverables for the future.