Over the past few months, I’ve had the invaluable opportunity to participate in Innovate UK’s Design for Growth programme — and I wanted to share just how transformative this experience has been!

What is Design for Growth?

Backed by Innovate UK, Design for Growth is an ambitious and inspiring programme that helps early-stage UK businesses embed design thinking at the heart of product and service development. It offers tailored support, design mentoring, and practical tools to drive innovation, discover customer needs, and build foundations for sustainable business growth. As a technology-driven, purpose-led business building medical devices for young patients — the timing couldn’t have been better.

Why Design Matters

Before joining the programme, we saw design as very important — but now, we see it as critical. Design for Growth coach pushed me to rethink our approach to user experience, and communication. With the support of Tom Stables as our design mentor, I was able to step back from the day-to-day and look at the entire user journey from a fresh perspective. Greater consideration for how our solution feels, functions, and fits into the lives of our users, regulators, and clinicians.

What We Gained

Here are just a few of the ways Design for Growth supported us:

Design Mentoring
We were paired with a brilliant design coach who challenged our assumptions, identified user pain points, and helped us translate insights into meaningful design improvements.
Clarity of Purpose
We refined our value proposition and moved closer to understanding not only what we do, but why it matters.
Stronger User Insight
Taking a clear view on what it means to be a patient, parent or clinician, in terms of day to day life, and how healthcare is delivered as a service.
Practical Tools & Resources
From decision-making frameworks to communication strategies, we now have a suite of tools we’ll be using long-term.

In the medtech world it’s very easy/common to get bogged down in technical development, regulatory requirements, clinical needs and loose sight of the original drivers for innovation. This programme reminded us to stay curious, stay creative, and stay connected to the real people we’re building for. We’re walking away from Design for Growth with a sharpened focus, renewed confidence, and powerful momentum going forward. We genuinely believe this initiative is a game-changer for UK startups.

Our Thanks

To the teams at Innovate UK, and the brilliant design coaches from Magnetic, who made this possible. Your guidance, energy, and commitment to helping businesses like ours grow through great design is deeply appreciated.

If you’re a UK startup considering applying and don’t hesitate. Design for Growth isn’t some tickbox exercise, it’s a mindset shift, that could define the future of your business. Here’s to building something that truly works — for everyone.

Will Jackson CEO, Playphysio