Improving health access and reducing barriers for young people in BC
We co-designed the Foundry Virtual Care app to help young people access anytime, anywhere mental health services.Service Design | Web & App Development | UI/UX | IA
Project summary
Situation
Foundry BC is removing barriers and increasing access to health and wellness services for people ages 12 to 24 across British Columbia.
The intention? Make all services available in person at a Foundry Centre available through the app.Solution
Working with Foundry BC, Providence Health Care and other health authorities we built a modern virtual health clinic app that empowers youth with digital tools and resources to support their mental health.ProcessFocusing on user-centric design and agile development, we created a set of digital health services that will change the way youth access health care in BC for years to come.
We co-designed this for youth, with youth. The intuitive virtual health clinic app we developed breaks down barriers and opens chances to access vital resources any time, anywhere.
Our team followed a well-defined discovery, design (UX/UI), development, testing, release and maintenance process. That included:
- Deep discovery to understand how young people would access these services and what matters most to them.
- User research to reveal key insights. For example:
- Young people did not want to reiterate their personal story every time they met a new counsellor or service provider.
- Our target audience was operating on older-generation technology and mobile phones.
- Detailed user stories and use cases to develop the future state of the app's functionality, look and feel.
- Rigorous product roadmapping, development and testing as well as privacy impact and security risk assessments.
UpsidesThe Foundry BC web and mobile apps now provides essential mental health resources and support to those who need it most.
EYDS was listening and was interested in a solution that worked for the end user.
Steve Mathias
Co-Executive Director, Foundry
Private and secureWe identified, evaluated and managed privacy risks as well as assessed and reported security risks during planning, development, and implementation to make well informed risk-based decisions.
Successes
- 32K+ App Store downloads
- 21K+ registrations with 3x growth in unique registrations
- 3K+ appointments completed showing 3.5x growth
Technology used
The Foundry team was super passionate about their vision for the project. Excitement to deliver a high-quality product spread across our whole team as we realized what an important impact the project would have on our community.
EY Design Studio team
