Venture concept · Project Lead (Volunteer)
AnnieGuard — Healthcare Product Discovery
Connecting user research, product direction, and cross-functional execution in the Maryland New Venture Program.
Context & my role
AnnieGuard was an AI-assisted healthcare venture concept exploring a machine-learning API for sarcoma detection. From January to May 2025, I led a four-person team through customer discovery, product definition, planning, and venture-pitch delivery in the Maryland New Venture Program at bwtech@UMBC.
The work was concept and venture development. It was not a clinically validated or deployed medical product, and no diagnostic accuracy or patient outcome is claimed.
Discovery & B2B direction
I conducted 20+ user and customer-discovery interviews with clinicians, healthcare professionals, and potential users. The research explored clinical workflows, adoption barriers, user needs, and assumptions behind the proposed solution.
Findings challenged the initial B2C hypothesis and informed a proposed B2B healthcare direction, with closer attention to workflow fit, trust, and adoption constraints. I translated insights into documented requirements and MVP priorities.
Prioritization & delivery
I used MoSCoW, user feedback, and delivery constraints to prioritize requirements and milestones. Planning included a project charter, work breakdown structure, Smartsheet schedule, and a RACI matrix to clarify individual ownership and reduce task confusion.
Trello Kanban boards and recurring reviews supported coordination of milestones, responsibilities, dependencies, risks, decisions, and action items. The RACI improvement is described qualitatively; no measured percentage reduction is claimed.
Venture outcome & learning
I coordinated the final product positioning, deliverables, and investor-style presentation, contributing to a first-place Pitch Night finish and a $5,000 venture award.
The project reinforced that an AI concept needs more than a model: user needs, clinical workflow fit, trust, prioritization, and coordinated execution all influence whether a proposed product is useful.
Read the experience in my Journey