Applied Health Gamification Platform
Leveraging a robust UI Prototype to build stakeholder consensus
Applied Health Analytics, a Nashville-based company, provides advanced data platforms and community-based interventions to improve commercial population health. They enlisted By The Way Labs to develop a gamification platform that integrates with their existing tools, enhancing user engagement through team-based health challenges. The goal was to make health management more interactive and accountable, using game mechanics to encourage behavioral change.
Approach & Collaboration
Strategizing Interactive Health Solutions
- Utilized an agile development approach, crafting clear user stories to align technical, sales, and executive stakeholders.
- Developed a robust UI prototype to facilitate stakeholder feedback and refine the gamification features.
- Integrated the gamification module with AHA’s existing Symfony application, ensuring seamless data flow and user interaction.
Results
Elevating Health Management Through Play
- Developed a comprehensive gamification platform that transforms routine health tracking into a dynamic team-based competition.
- Enhanced user engagement and accountability through real-time leaderboards and health challenges.
- Supported the platform with tailored sales collateral to help AHA's business development team promote the new tool effectively.
By The Way Labs was a fantastic product development partner. Their deliberate process was critical in determining the scope of our project and establishing consensus between the numerous stakeholders.
By The Way Labs provided excellent communication through every step of the engagement, ultimately delivering a product that fulfilled all business goals on time and on budget.
As a byproduct of working with By The Way Labs, we were able to improve our approach to product development best practices within our company, which we recognized would position us for quicker discovery and product development in the future.
Team Dynamics Transformed into Gameplay
Using concepts we had explored with street teams for entertainment artists like Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith and Eric Church, By The Way Labs crafted a gamification strategy that translated these concepts to the health management sector. The game fostered organic team formation within companies, encouraging employees to form groups that competed in health-related challenges. This approach expanded the traditional accountability model by integrating social motivation and competition, making health goals fun and engaging while promoting a supportive community environment.
Agile Development: Crafting User-Centric Solutions
The development process at By The Way Labs was rooted in agile methodologies, focusing first on establishing the fundamental "nouns and verbs" of the project to ensure clear communication across all stakeholder groups. By crafting human-readable user stories, we set a clear framework for project goals that resonated with technical staff, sales teams, and C-suite executives alike. Interactive mock-ups were utilized at each design stage, allowing stakeholders to provide immediate feedback, fostering a collaborative and iterative development process that rapidly aligned the final product with user needs.
Technology for Seamless Integration
The gamification platform was engineered using Symfony for the backend, coupled with an AngularJS front end, to create a robust and scalable web application. This technical foundation allowed for a seamless integration of complex game mechanics and ensured a smooth, interactive user experience. The modular design also facilitated future enhancements and integrations, underscoring the platform's readiness to evolve alongside Applied Health Analytics' growing needs.