DNA testing company 23andMe recently filed for bankruptcy, but the company was successful in several areas including offering millions of simple, user-friendly testing kits to its consumers.
“23andMe got their price point down to a very consumer approachable level, but they also spent a substantial amount of money on designing the user experience,” Voreades told NutraIngredients at the recent Probiota Americas in Vancouver.
“After [a customer] took the DNA test, the company did a great job of communicating. The final report, for lack of a better term, had a high production quality. It was very easy to see the insights. It was easy to understand. Depending on the level of knowledge you wanted, you could go down the rabbit hole as deep as you wanted.”
Voreades said microbiome reports are typically technical or complex and that consumers still do not know how to process all the data in these reports to impact their lives in a positive way.
There is also the ‘ick’ factor. Taking a stool sample for testing is not always the easiest or most pleasant experience for consumers. However, companies are continuing to innovate, coming up with new testing protocols such as imaging to collect information about the microbiome. For consumers who have adopted microbiome testing, they are doing so through a healthcare practitioner, who can help interpret the results. Consumers may also receive insurance reimbursement for these tests.
“I think the core theme that I’ve been trying to communicate is simplicity and relatability of information to generally understand health conditions [matters],” Voreades said. “And I think companies are really trying to work as hard as possible to get there.”
