An Award-Winning App for Young Patients
We partnered with Corporation Pop to help them develop Xploro®, a pioneering patient app that combines AR, AI and gameplay to make patients feel empowered and engaged, and improve clinical outcomes.
All images: Sutherland Labs
The Challenge
After his daughter Issy was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer in 2011, Dom Raban (Chair of Corporation Pop) found there was a significant lack of information for parents and children faced with long-term cancer treatment.
What information there was, was directed at us as parents, which left my daughter feeling isolated and ignored. She was resistant to treatments because their purpose wasn’t explained to her beforehand and she was scared of going to hospital as she didn’t know what to expect.
Dom Raban, MD Corporation Pop
Issy was not alone in this experience. Research shows that patients who are not well informed about medical procedures and treatment experience increased levels of stress and anxiety, which can lead to delayed procedures or lost hospital resources and often results in poorer medical outcomes.
While clinicians often advise that children attend play therapy prior to treatment, resources in hospitals are spread thinly and play therapists themselves are asking for solutions fit for a naturally digital audience. Building on this, Corporation Pop decided to develop a solution which would improve child patient experiences by giving them access to a wide range of information in a fun and engaging way.
The Approach
To ensure that the digital solution would meet the needs of its users, Sutherland Labs worked closely with Corporation Pop developers across three rounds of research. Ethnographic research took place in hospitals involving children with serious conditions, families, clinicians and support staff to understand needs and responses to initial design concepts for what became the Xploro® app. In subsequent rounds we reviewed the iterated concepts with similar user groups.
Over the course of development our insights were used to guide the application of AR in a way that was compelling and useful, as well as optimising features such as chatbot advisors to suit the particular linguistic, cognitive and contextual needs of this audience.
The Results
The launch and continued success of Xploro® – a health information platform that uses AR, gameplay and AI to deliver health information to young patients, in a way which makes them feel empowered, engaged and informed, whilst having fun at the same time.
As well as winning several awards, the app has been proven to:
- Reduce patient anxiety
- Improve patient health literacy
- Lead to better engagement with health services
- Improve clinical outcomes
- Reduce need for sedation
- Reduce in repeat procedures
- Improve overall patient experience
And, while the app was initially designed for children with cancer, the team behind Xploro® are building a health information platform for any age of condition. For further details visit the Xploro® website.
Xploro, is one of many services we have worked on in the Health and Wellness industries – learn more by contacting us below: