Healthdirect mobile app

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Developing a first in Australian Healthcare…

The healthdirect mobile app is the first of its kind in Australia, delivering the tools you need to manage your health in one app.

It combines a symptom checker, health service finder and health information that is reliable and, most importantly, relevant to Australians.

The app allows a user to start with a simple search for health information then seamlessly move into the relevant symptom checker and, if needed, find an appropriate health service near them. This movement from one service to another set the foundation for a multi-channel approach to content which has now moved into emerging technologies like messenger bots, smart speakers and video content.


Who was involved

The mobile app space was a new channel for Healthdirect and the project involved many stakeholders across the business. From existing product teams through information security, legal, content, marketing and clinical we had to ensure the user journeys within the app made the most of the mobile space.

The core team was comprised of a Product Manager, Tester, Solution Architect and myself.

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My ROLE

The development of this app was my first product as Entrepreneur in Residence, developing the app from concept through to initial prototypes, user testing, MVP and launch.

Having been involved in the development of individual health tools for Healthdirect we had identified an opportunity to better synergise these tools and allow people in need of help to quickly triage their symptoms and get advice on their recommended course of action. If that involved a visit to a health service we could then direct them to a service near their current location.

My involvement included:

  • Facilitating design workshops

  • UX Design and product development

  • Collating feedback from user testing and adapting UX and UI based on that feedback

  • Developing app front end using Ionic framework

  • Testing and adapting UX for iOS and Android

  • Working with multiple teams across the business to plan product launch. These included Ops, Legal, Marketing and Risk Management.


What we did

Starting with an initial hypothesis that several of the existing health tools could be combined to create an app that would allow users to manage health concerns where and when they needed. We then started a series of design sprints to test the best flow between health tools and whether users understood where they were in the flow. Most importantly, we had to test that users understood where to go next for help.

Initial user testing showed that these tools were still too silo’d and didn't deliver an end to end experience we hoped for. From there we focused on delivering an experience that would triage users no matter where they started. This could be an information search, health service search or symptom check.

We also leveraged existing code by using a hybrid app framework that allowed the business to develop the app and website in tandem. While not a true progressive web app (the first true PWA was just being developed at Google around the same time) it was true to a lot of the initial concepts.

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What we learned and delivered

The mobile app launched in October 2015 and was recognised as a first of its kind in Australia, delivering the tools you need to manage your health in one app.

Users enjoyed the movement from one service to another and the app set the foundation for a multi-channel approach to content which has now moved into emerging technologies like messenger bots, smart speakers and video content within the business.

Across the business there were many learnings from how to manage build and release cycles for an app (which differ greatly to web) to helping marketing manage user reviews and ratings through to continuous development of the app. We also explored the unique opportunities native mobile features could provide like 3D touch, notifications or integration with wearable devices.