Today it’s my birthday! And since the last two days I’ve been ill, I haven’t managed to post about this very interesting congress I attended on Monday.
AppsONhealth was held on the St. Joan de Deu Hospital in Barcelona, was free and it had free coffee during the coffee breaks, which was great to help attendees cope with the amount of information «thrown» at us during the day. For more information about the event, click here.
The first speaker was Chia Hwu, CEO in Qubop (@chiah) who talked to us about the different platforms and the chances of success in this industry, which is pretty and competitive. She introduced us to Mobile web and mobile app, gave us plenty of diagrams with sales numbers (apps and platforms) and gave us a few tips on how to spot a «gap» on the market that an app could fill. One of the most important things she said, in my opinion, was that you create an app, but then you have to see how people use it. Don’t use all your investments in launching an app in all platforms, first launch it in one (she recommended iOS), then see how people use it, process the feedback, make the little changes on the app and then launch it in the other platforms.
Dan Phillips, a young man from Healthbox (@health_box), a company that offers business accelerator programs in the healthcare industry. They have a special digital health business incubator which basically helps people who have an idea and design to get launched. He talked about how important it is for apps to be made to be part of the work flow in case of healthcare professionals, because having to insert data twice of doing that extra click can mean the difference between a very good and successful app and a very good but unsuccessful app and highlighted the importance of early feedback on your app. He also talked about the importance of social networks are growing in the developing world and funding: If your app is free, who can pay for it? Pharma, employers, insurers, government…
Last but not least we heard Lekshmy Parameswaran, founding partner in Fuelfor, a company which helps hospitals and other healthcare facilities by creating what they call meaningful experiences for people. I think her talk was very interesting because it was so fresh! Many designers possibly thought otherwise but for me, seeing what she saw in everyday experiences in hospitals and so on, experiences I can relate to because as I have been there as a nurse, was really refreshing. It was also the way their work I liked, the mapping to find the «gap» that you (company, app designer, etc.) can fill. She gave us a couple of examples of how the company spotted and tackled this issues, coming up with a creative solutions for a holistic experience.
Overall a very interesting day, I got to meet a few people and make some contacts, so it was very productive. I will attend appsONhealth in the future for sure.
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