Research-led design for Acteon Group: field research with dentists and dental labs shaping the experience of a product-system that did not exist yet.
Acteon Group wanted to enter the intraoral scanner market and needed strategic guidance on crafting a cohesive customer experience across the physical device, the digital interface, the services and the entire ecosystem.
There was no product yet: no scanner, no interface, no service. Our task was to make sure that when the product teams started designing, every decision would already be grounded in how dentists and dental labs actually work. We delivered a comprehensive CX guideline for the whole product-system, built on field research and on strategic decisions we facilitated with the business.
The industrial design team used our recommendations to design the physical scanner; the digital product team applied them to create the interface. This case is a good example of what design research looks like when it drives a product from zero, and of how I work when the deliverable is not screens but evidence, alignment and direction.
I worked as User Experience Designer in a three-person design team (Service Design Director, mid-level Service Designer and myself), alongside the client’s PM, PO and four engineers. My contribution ran across the whole arc of the project:
Conducted interviews and shadowing sessions with dentists in their studios and technicians in their labs, following protocols I helped design.
Analyzed the leading intraoral scanners on the market across four dimensions: device, software, workflow and service.
Mapped the AS IS journeys of dentists and lab technicians, connecting steps, touchpoints, timing, data outputs and pain points.
Turned raw research material into structured insights and per-insight CX recommendations, and presented the synthesis to the client.
Organized and facilitated the Workflow TO BE work session where research became prioritized product decisions.
Contributed to the TO BE end-to-end experience and to the CX guideline handed to the industrial and digital product teams.
A multidisciplinary setup from day one: our UX team brought research, experience and service design expertise; the client’s team contributed business strategy, product direction and R&D; external technology consultants covered the latest technical advancements. This early alignment meant decisions later in the project could be made quickly and with shared ownership.
The project was structured in two research phases followed by a decision phase:
Market analysis through users. Rather than a desk-only competitor review, we studied the leading scanners in use: interviews and shadowing with dentists who own them, to understand strengths and weaknesses of each ecosystem: device, software, workflow, service.
Downstream research. Interviews and shadowing with dental lab technicians, to understand what happens to scan data after it leaves the studio, and what a new scanner must get right for the people who turn files into prosthetics.
Define. A facilitated Workflow TO BE workshop with the tech and business teams, translating validated insights into prioritized requirements and a CX guideline.
Interviews explored confidence and knowledge of scanners, training and learning curve, purchase decision drivers, the support they receive, pros and cons of their current device, the data they acquire, their typical workflows, and their needs, wishes and issues.
Shadowing meant observing real scans on real patients: upper arch, lower arch, bite. For each session we mapped every step, touchpoint, timing, data output and action performed by the dentist and assistants, monitoring risk factors and exceptions. We paid particular attention to the usability of the physical product with all its accessories, to the type and effectiveness of software feedback, and to how the studio environment shaped the experience. High points and low points were documented from the perspective of the dentist, the assistant and the patient.
“I trust the machine on the mathematical accuracy. What matters the most to me is the clinical acceptability.”
Dentist“Having colors: from the work perspective it’s not that useful, but from a patient perspective it’s a marketing tool. Patients want to see.”
Dentist“The issue with these tools is their obsolescence. I would like to rent or lease the scanner to better update or change it.”
DentistTo structure what we observed, we mapped the full ecosystem of elements involved in a scan: actors, physical touchpoints from the wand to the docking station, software, and every control and feedback interaction between them.
Two synthesis tools structured what we learned. First, dentist user types: archetypes of decision drivers, behaviors, motivations and attitudes, built on explicit assumptions (primary decision makers, technology-aware, already using or considering a scanner). They let the team reason about strategy in terms of needs and mindset rather than demographics.
Second, the AS IS journey of the dentist, mapped with key moments and pain points, where each research insight was paired with a concrete CX recommendation to be discussed with the client in the work session.
Interviews with technicians covered the services they provide (prosthetics, surgical guides), their collaboration and communication channels with dentists, their influence on dentists’ scanner purchase decisions, the software and file formats they use, their step-by-step data workflows and the issues they encounter with the files they receive.
Shadowing showed how received files are actually processed into finished outputs, and which software tools help or hinder along the way. Experiencing different types of labs clarified the distinction between dental labs and production centers, how they collaborate, and their respective roles toward dentists and the final product for the patient.
“We are at a point where intermediaries need to be eliminated. With Medit there is no third-party company involved: one of the reasons we chose it.”
Lab technician“A company should generate revenue from the ongoing services after the scanner sale: cloud, software, support. Not the scanner alone.”
Lab technician“Unfortunately we often miss essential information needed to complete the work, so we have to call the dentists for details.”
Lab technicianThis second phase surfaced a theme that shaped the final guideline: the moments where the workflows of dentists and technicians overlap, file handling and transfer above all, are where a new entrant can win or lose the ecosystem.
I organized and co-facilitated the work session that turned research into decisions, bringing the tech and business teams around the same material. The goals were explicit: share research and analysis insights, validate the AS IS workflow, validate the CX guidelines, prioritize areas of intervention, prioritize product requirements and features, and envision the workflow TO BE.
Review the AS IS workflow together: high points, pain points, dentist user types and CX recommendations. To keep the discussion concrete we prepared insight and recommendation cards from direct observations, categorized by the six CX ecosystem areas.
Decide on each recommendation with a Decision Canvas: confirm, discard, or defer to a second wave of the product. Key discussion areas: environment setup (trolley, base unit vs external PC, cables, access), hygiene (tip exchange, docking station) and the dental scan itself (area selection, activation, affordance and usability, control and feedback, features).
Envision the TO BE workflow: every decision summarized into actionable steps and consolidated after the workshop into the future end-to-end dentist experience, including the collaboration points with dental labs for file handling and transfer.
Decisions and product-system requirements were shaped by both best practices and innovation triggers, and covered five areas: scanner, stand and accessories, software and tech ecosystem, communication channel, and UX recommendations, with nice-to-haves explicitly parked for future releases.
The Define phase closed with a CX guideline for the whole product-system: decision recaps per area, the annotated TO BE workflow, and UX recommendations covering both the dentist and the dental lab side.
The guideline became the starting point for two parallel design tracks: the digital product team translated the software and UX recommendations into the scanning workflow interface, while the industrial design team developed three concept proposals for the scanner wand. Research done before the product existed ended up literally shaping its physical form and its screens.
The company was unfamiliar with these methodologies, but trusted the process and engaged actively throughout: relationships built at the outset carried the project.
Tech team members joining shadowing sessions and syncing with UX and business bridged the gap that often separates design and development, aligning goals and speeding decisions.
Deep understanding of both dentists’ and technicians’ workflows, with direct end-user input, led to a more intuitive and effective product concept.