Lacey Picazo on the Nuances of AI in Healthcare

How do we introduce AI into high-stakes human environments without losing trust, safety, judgment, or effectiveness? This episode features a conversation with Lacey Picazo, CEO and founder of ZoCo Design, a research and design consultancy focused on helping organizations build human-centered digital products and AI experiences. Lacey, a professional product designer by trade, is a serial entrepreneur with strong opinions on the ways customer behavior interplays with AI and can change depending on the application or the environment.  With host Shannon Peavey, Lacey discusses a case study where her firm worked with mTuitive, a leader in digital pathology and cancer care, in order to illuminate the way behavioral science, workflow design, and human-centered product thinking can shape whether AI succeeds or fails in clinical environments. Rather than treating AI adoption as a purely technical challenge, this episode explores how clinicians and patients respond emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally when AI enters decision-making processes, and why “more automation” is not always better. This is a thoughtful discussion about innovation, responsibility, understanding the rewards - as well as the risks - of a future that is reckoning with finding the right formulas for human-machine collaboration. Importantly, it also addresses the ways we can support the next generation in an AI-shaped world. Lacey is part of our exclusive new Product Rising podcast series, where host Shannon Peavey explores the world of AI Ethics, Safety & Responsibility . 00:00 Intro to the topic: AI enters healthcare 01:33 Why healthcare is different from other industries 04:05 Consumer product thinking doesn't always work 05:54 The stakeholder problem: patients, providers, payers, and more 07:02 Trust is kind of a big deal 08:29 Today it's easy to build, but still not easy to get adoption 09:55 Tempted to skip testing? Don't. 12:16 Why human behavior matters more than product features 14:23 Understanding clinicians as users 18:09 Where AI creates hesitation and bad friction 20:09 Professional identity: "Am I the kind of person who uses this?" 21:14 The mTuitive cancer care case study 24:21 Challenging assumptions before building 26:18 How clinician research actually works 28:31 What clinicians really want from AI 30:44 Will resistance to AI fade over time? 32:31 Finding the balance between efficiency and safety 34:23 Why some friction is actually good 36:40 Are companies overestimating automation? 38:35 The skill every AI product leader still needs 40:05 How to build customer intimacy in the AI era 42:56 Ambient listening and the unintended consequences of AI 44:22 The food bank story: how fear shapes behavior 45:58 Slow down: AI's hidden human costs 46:55 Closing thoughts  📚Resources: - ZoCo Designhttps://zocodesign.com/ <!--THE END--> - ZoCo Design’s mTuitive Case Study https://zocodesign.com/case-studies/mtuitive-case-study <!--THE END--> - mTuitive https://www.mtuitive.com/ - Melissa Perri https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissajeanperri/ <!--THE END--> - Teresa Torres https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresatorres/ <!--THE END--> - Women in Product’s Podcast Episode with Teresa Torres https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/continuous-discovery-with-teresa-torres/id1584224561?i=1000672408840 <!--THE END--> - Shreyas Dosi’s Maven course https://maven.com/shreyas-doshi/product-sense?promoCode=MAVEN100&promoCode=MAVEN100 Where to find Lacey: - Lacey Picazo, ZoCo Design https://www.linkedin.com/in/laceypicazo/ Where to find our hosts: - Shannon Peavey https://www.linkedin.com/in/spmad/ 🙋🏻‍♀️Where to find Women in Product: - On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/women-in-product/posts/ - Website https://womenpm.org/ - Join the Community https://womenpm.org/wip-community/ <!--THE END--> - Product Rising on Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/product-rising/id1584224561 <!--THE END--> - Product Rising on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/7bcyVhpdhw0hbiRr6O4h1U <!--THE END--> - Product Rising on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLijcNLDj\QE2ge6Wqeh0MLx\qMKwot--9