The challenge
Diabetes Victoria has run the Life! Program since 2007 to help people at risk of type 2 diabetes change their lifestyles. The program, delivered through group work and telephone coaching, struggled to meet the growing demand for assistance. Diabetes Victoria wanted to develop an online platform and application to give participants the ability to self-manage their progress via online prevention tools and activities.
Our challenge was to identify the technological and business compatibility requirements for a new Life! online platform, conduct an environmental scan of potential products, and provide recommended options for purchasing a suitable online platform.
Approach
Through an online survey, interviews and workshops, we identified the functional, non functional, and technical requirements for the online platform.
An initial broad scan identified software products and apps used in the health industry locally and globally. We short listed six products that were fit for purpose and already supported by a strong evidence base of relevant research.
The evaluation included three software platforms and three apps against four key measures and 62 criteria:
Fit to requirements: meets requirements as an expandable and adaptable platform, ability to integrate with the existing Salesforce system, to deliver a range of user activities in different content formats, to self-manage progress through logging and tracking, notifications, video chats with health coach and community discussion tools.
Time: the ability to rapidly develop, adapt and scale to demand, enabling long-term growth and sustainability.
Cost: a cost-effective approach to design, build, deploy timeframes, and any licensing requirements.
Risk: low risk in terms of fit to requirements, timeline and cost.
Based on our findings, we were confident of the suitability of the recommended software product and user app.
I would visit a Life! online platform because the constant daily reminder to keep up a healthy lifestyle would motivate me to succeed.
Outcomes
Through rigorous examination and inquiry we were able to to recommend a solution that:
– enhanced participant engagement and retention via a health app
– built on existing Salesforce platform to deliver a tailored, flexible and personal UX
– enabled participants to self-manage their progress using a health app.
This project wasn’t about changing the program requirements to fit the right platform. It was about finding the right platform to accommodate an already effective program and promote a positive online experience for its participants through use of an app.
