The Quickest Way to Derail Your Health Tech Demo Is to Use Ridiculous Demo Data
“Wait! That variant classification doesn’t make sense for this cancer.”
During the demo, the oncologist’s observation derailed our pitch. We spent the next 15 minutes debating genomic variants instead of showcasing the product’s value. The data was correct, but the discussion swirled anyway.
I’ve seen this play out in healthcare tech demos many times. Your demo data is as important as the product features.
Most product teams treat demo data as an afterthought. They populate a demo environment with whatever’s handy, focusing solely on technical accuracy.
Clinical audiences are expert pattern matchers. Physicians, researchers, and healthcare professionals instinctively evaluate the medical coherence of everything they see. One questionable data point can undermine their confidence in you and your solution. If you put nonsense in front of a doctor, what other unseen corners are you cutting?
After years of demos, I’ve developed three rules for demo data:
- Keep names boring. Now is not the time to showcase pop culture preferences. Laughing at “Dr. Gregory House’s” patient roster is a distraction.
- Use ordinary scenarios. There’s no need for exotic conditions, unusual lab values, or rare results. Routine cases let your audience focus on your product’s value, not debate clinical edge cases.
- Ensure complete medical coherence. Everything visible in the demo needs to be clinically believable and consistent. One misaligned diagnosis, medication, or lab value can trigger a technical debate instead of a constructive discussion.
Getting this right requires discipline and expertise. Your demo data needs the same rigorous clinical review as your product features. Before it reaches customers, have clinicians review your demo environment. What seems minor to your product team might be a significant concern to a healthcare professional.
The best demo is one where your data is so ordinary, no one notices it. That’s when they will focus on your product.