Hayati Mental Health & Wellness App

  • App Development
  • Consulting
  • Product Management
  • Product Marketing
  • SaaS
  • Strategy

Overview

Across the Middle East and Arab-speaking region, around 30% of people suffer from some form or level of mental health issues. Many are not able to access the therapy or help they need for various reasons, ranging from finance to social taboos. Dr Sarah Al Sukari and her team sought to change this with Hayati, an app focused on mental health and wellness in the Gulf.

With Hayati, anyone seeking a psychologist or therapist could do so from the privacy of their mobile phone, anywhere, anytime. But to get the app features right in a way that it would be successful for patients, and investors, required deep market research and diligence. That’s where Dr Sarah turned to Velocity’s team.

Dr Sarah Al Sukari,
Mental Health Therapy Professional

It was a pleasure working with the entire Velocity Consulting team. They were able to conceptualise and work on our app in a few months and the final result is beautiful. It’s difficult to find a technical partner with a balance of business acumen but they provided us with technical, strategic, and product management insight. They have a wealth of knowledge in product design, management, and app development which was integral in the creation of such a reliable product. They met all our requirements and delivered on time and on budget. I would definitely recommend Velocity to everyone and look forward to working with them again in the future.

The Challenges

  • Finding a product-to-market fit was the most important aspect of making sure that the app’s development would actually address the market and user needs
  • As the app would address a large demographic across many Arabic speaking countries, conducting market research would be no small or easy task
  • While the clinical side of things was taken care of with competent psychologists in place, the challenge of navigating the world of technology was not easy for doctors. Things like what frameworks to use, how to approach technical processes, and finding the ideal technology mix was clearly an uphill climb
  • The regulatory challenges around introducing an app of this nature was also a concern as different regions have different compliance requirements when it comes to mental health treatment

Our Approach to Problem Solving

  • Our team conducted an extensive user research, and market research, exercise across various patient demographics to understand the unique needs that would make the app impactful in the way intended
  • The user research was then translated into an intuitive User Interface (UI) by applying modern principles of User Experience (UX) and design. Wireframes and mockups were extensively created to properly highlight each feature and as the functionality would show in its final form. The client is thus able to properly assess the look and feel
  • Our engineering team designed and implemented a strategic technology combination, starting from the app frameworks to the hosting and how it would work in tandem with a web app, in addition to the mobile app. This would give psychologists or counselors/clinicians the flexibility they would need to manage the treatment from a variety of devices.
  • We also found an efficient way to complete app beta testing with a group of users who would be most relevant and provide feedback that can help the app’s relevance with the target market.
  • Velocity also provided a product marketing roadmap that would begin at the MVP level and scale to varying levels of users, installs, and regions/markets. This would be instrumental to have a proper scale up path.

Results

  • The client was extremely happy with the work done and with a team that was able to translate their vision into an app that could solve a real world problem.
  • There was no compliance or regulatory hurdle and the product was to comply with all the healthcare requirements while enabling safe interactions between clients and therapists
  • Initial beta and concept testing had a satisfaction rate of above 95% with no changes advised, and no bugs reported
  • The client was able to make an early impression in conversations with venture fund investors and even receive some offers

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