The rise of conversational UX in pharma DTC
Jay Erickson
Partner | Chief Innovation Officer
Why the dialogue layer will define the next decade of pharma experience
For years, pharma has focused on channels — websites, field reps, email, social media, apps, and one-way omnichannel orchestration.
But as GenAI reshapes engagement and pharma direct-to-consumer (DTC) models proliferate, something more fundamental is happening: We’re moving from touchpoints to talking points.
The new frontier of experience isn’t just digital. It’s conversational.
The DTC shift: From access to dialogue
We are seeing significant investments by pharma companies in owned DTC experiences, from Eli Lilly’s LillyDirect DTC platform to PfizerForAll. These plays signal a bold move toward simplifying access and building direct relationships with consumers, along with a wealth of first-party data.
When a pharma brand becomes both the manufacturer and engagement platform, every interaction and every question suddenly matters.
Patients aren’t just clicking; they’re conversing.
They’re asking:
“What does this mean for me?”
“Is it safe with my other meds?”
“Can I afford it?”
How we answer those questions — medically, emotionally, ethically, and transactionally — is the new brand experience for pharma. And, of course, the complexity of regulatory constraints and MLR has not lessened.
From channels to conversations
A recent survey from DT Consulting, “State of Customer Experience in Global Pharma 2024,” found that CX scores have plateaued after years of post-COVID recalibration, with “current ways of working not differentiating.”
That’s the tell: We’ve optimized processes and built impressive engagement machinery, but we haven’t yet reconnected with the human and adaptive pulse that gives CX meaning.
The next leap in Pharma CX won’t come from more dashboards or segmented workflows — it will come from empathy systems that help companies sense, adapt, and respond more like humans than machines. And in DTC Pharma, where consumers are navigating complex medical decisions, the conversation is the currency of trust.
Bad vs. good conversational UX
A chatbot that spits out disclaimers and repeats “Please consult your doctor” is not care — it’s deflection. It’s the digital version of being transferred between departments that don’t talk to each other. That’s how trust dies.
Now imagine a different experience — one designed as a dialogue, not a decision tree.
A patient logs into a DTC portal after receiving their first shipment of a GLP-1 therapy. A conversational assistant opens the interaction:
Assistant: “Hi Maria, welcome back. How are you feeling since starting your medication?”
Maria: “Overall okay, but I’m struggling to plan meals when I’m traveling for work.”
Assistant: “That’s a common challenge. Here are a few travel-friendly meal approaches others have found helpful. If you’d like, you can also schedule a short check-in with a human nutrition coach to talk it through.”
In this moment, nothing has “escalated” yet. The system is still doing what AI does best: listening, contextualizing, and offering relevant support, while clearly inviting human connection as an option, not a default.
A few days later, Maria returns and types:
Maria: “I’ve been feeling lightheaded since my last dose.”
This input triggers a health safety flag — predefined rules designed with medical, regulatory, and safety teams. The system responds immediately:
Assistant: “Thanks for letting us know. Lightheadedness can be important to address. I’m going to connect you with a licensed clinical support specialist now so you can talk through this together.”
At this point, the conversation intentionally escalates to a human — not because the AI failed, but because it recognized a boundary where human judgment, empathy, and clinical responsibility matter most.
That’s what good conversational UX looks like in pharma DTC:
- AI handles context, continuity, and convenience
- Humans step in for nuance, safety, and care
- The handoff is clear, calm, and confidence-building — not abrupt or opaque
This isn’t automation pretending to be empathy. It’s technology designed to protect trust by knowing when not to act alone.
What leaders need to do now
To thrive in this next wave of DTC engagement, pharma leaders must design conversation-centric systems:
- Map the dialogue ecosystem. Identify every moment a patient asks a question: Before, during, and after treatment.
- Define the tone and voice. Invest in creating robust editorial guidelines for your conversational layer that can adapt to the patient's attributes. Think of these chatbots and assistants as characters in your movie. What are their motivations? How do they “think” about the world? How familiar or formal are they? Is light humor ever appropriate?
- Design for layered intelligence. Combine AI’s scale with human empathy. Let machines handle routine, but humans handle complexity and risk above defined thresholds.
- Consider a multi-lingual approach. Create a more valuable conversational platform by adding a translation layer.
- Measure what matters. Move beyond clicks. Track sentiment, resolution, and trust over time.
- Build ethical fluency. Be transparent about what’s automated. Respect privacy, equity, and clarity. No manipulation — only education.
The future calls for dialogue as the differentiator
In a DTC world, experience is no longer measured in impressions — it’s measured in interactions.
Pharma’s most important capability won’t be omnichannel coordination; it will be conversation orchestration and cohesive fluency.
Because behind every “engagement” is a human trying to make a life decision. And behind every question is a moment of vulnerability — and opportunity.
The brands that learn to listen will be the ones we trust. The ones that respond with humanity will be the ones we remember.
