Design Futures for Equitable Vision Care
A 15-year strategic foresight study
Johnson & Johnson
Challenge
As global demand for personalized vision care increases, Acuvue must scale innovation without widening access gaps across income levels, geographies, and healthcare systems.
This project examines Acuvue through a 15-year future lens as part of a broader Johnson & Johnson foresight exploration.
Strategic Direction
Reposition Acuvue from a product-led contact lens brand to a preventative, accessible vision care system.
Concept Direction
Key Insights
Shift Toward Preventative Care
Long-term eye health is replacing reactive correction.
Innovation Outpacing Access
Technology advances faster than affordability and distribution.
Systems Enable Scalable Impact
Partnerships matter more than standalone products.
Foresight Framework & Scope
Methods/Tools
Time Horizon
15 years (2038)
Scope
Global vision care ecosystem — access, affordability, regulation, and long-term delivery models
Application
Acuvue (Johnson & Johnson Vision) explored as a future-facing system within the J&J portfolio
Scenario Overview — 15-Year Horizon (2038)
What This Scenario Tests
Whether Acuvue can scale preventive vision care without limiting reach or equity.
Acuvue’s Position
Acuvue operates at the intersection of high-performance innovation and global accessibility.
Future Context
Vision care demand rises due to digital lifestyles, prolonged screen exposure, and aging populations.
Scenario Logic: Examines how Acuvue balances innovation, affordability, and access as vision care scales globally.
Narrative Lens: Speculative Storytelling
A speculative narrative inspired by The Lion King is used as a visual metaphor to explore long-term stewardship, responsibility, and balance within a complex healthcare ecosystem.
Scenario Progression & System Shifts
This 15-year scenario maps how Acuvue’s vision care ecosystem evolves under accelerating innovation, widening access gaps, and eventual system-level correction.
Setup: A Growing Vision Care Ecosystem
A prince is born/Early Acuvue growth
Vision care demand accelerates as digital lifestyles intensify, positioning Acuvue as a trusted but primarily mid-market solution within a growing global ecosystem.
Rising Action: Innovation Outpaces Access
Machiavellian/ Market pressure
As personalized and high-tech vision solutions advance, affordability and access lag behind, creating growing disparities across income levels and global regions.
Turning Point: Greed & Chaos
Greed & Chaos / Disruption
As competition intensifies, high-performance vision tech accelerates. Without system-level affordability and access, innovation concentrates in premium markets and amplifies inequity.
Falling Action: Course Correction
The Guide / System redesign
The ecosystem shifts toward preventative, scalable eye care—combining digital support, partnerships, and tiered offerings so access grows alongside innovation.
Resolution: Scaled, Equitable Vision Care
The King / Long-term leadership
Acuvue sustains leadership by expanding access globally through tiered products, localized solutions, and cross-sector partnerships—balancing performance, affordability, and reach.
Black Swan Scenario — 15-Year Disruption
A Black Swan event accelerates existing inequities, forcing Acuvue to shift from product-led innovation to system-level responsibility.
What changed
Widespread adoption of personal devices increases screen exposure across income levels
Vision-related strain and eye conditions rise globally
Demand for vision care accelerates beyond premium markets
Strategic implication
Long-term leadership requires expanding beyond premium contact lenses
Vision care must shift from products to a system-level ecosystem
Access, pricing, and partnerships become as critical as performance
Strategic Implications & Responses (15-Year Horizon)
Portfolio must expand beyond lenses
Implication: A selective lens-only portfolio can’t fully support preventative, ongoing eye health needs.
Response: Extend into a connected ecosystem (e.g., app-enabled support, symptom detection, clinician linkages) to shift from reactive correction to preventative care.
Personalized medicine raises cost + scale pressure
Implication: Personalized vision care improves outcomes but increases cost, complexity, and inequity risk.
Response: Invest in R&D to scale responsibly and design for regulation + equity from the start (not after launch).
Equity gap grows as innovation accelerates
Implication: High-performance vision tech advances faster than affordability and access.
Response: Create tiered offerings + bulk pricing and distribution partnerships to expand access across income levels and regions.
Equity Balance
In this future, Acuvue’s advantage comes from pairing innovation with a scalable access model—not premium tech alone.
Multi-Horizon Foresight Across the J&J Portfolio
The foresight framework was applied across 5-, 10-, and 15-year horizons to stress-test resilience across Johnson & Johnson’s medical, consumer, and regulated business contexts.
Applying the same foresight framework across divisions and time horizons
Strategic Resilience
Predicted Outcomes & Strategic Impact
Global Expansion