Novo Nordisk: 'Preventing obesity'
Awarded Second Place by Innocentive for best mobile app concept
Overview
Novo Novo Nordisk A/S, a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company, sought to address the pressing issue of obesity through the development of a mobile application. Innocentive, was seeking application concepts that could help inspire people to adopt healthier lifestyles and ultimately reduce obesity rates.
The concept was primarily influenced by insights gathered by the user research agency, ‘Is it a Bird’ engaged by Novo Nordisk. The agency conducted extensive qualitative research among the Danish population, focusing on women and men aged 35 to 55, to identify key factors influencing behaviour and attitudes towards obesity.
KEY FINDINGS FROM USER RESEARCH
The user research revealed three significant areas that influenced individuals' behavior and attitudes towards obesity:
Physical: Body perception, exercise, and nutrition.
Emotional: Coping with emotions, stress, anxiety, and depression.
Social: Engaging better in groups facing similar challenges and promoting awareness of weight stigma.
User Experience
The key screens of the app were presented to the client as a high-fidelity prototype, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the user journey. The app flow aimed to track user weight goals and personalised preferences for habit formation. Additionally, a sustainable business model based on a subscription fee was proposed to grant users access to key professionals. The concept emphasised the importance of gathering continuous user feedback via surveys to enhance engagement and further refine the app.
FEATURES INCLUDED
The mobile app concept, named 'Balance works,' aimed to motivate users to adopt healthy habits leading to a balanced lifestyle. Several mechanics were incorporated to enhance user engagement:
Simplicity: Ensuring ease of use and a user-friendly experience.
Gamification: Introducing elements of randomness and choice to make the app engaging.
Nurturing Long-Term Habits: Implementing notifications and reminders to support the formation of healthy routines.
Progress Tracking: Enabling users to set challenges and monitor their progress towards weight-related goals.
Health Care: Providing access to healthcare experts for personalized guidance.
Support System: Facilitating community engagement and connecting users facing similar challenges.
Onboarding: Collecting personal details including BMI and weight targets to tailor the app experience.
Challenges: Offering challenges related to body, emotions, or social aspects to encourage holistic well-being.
Guides: Allowing users to book personalized sessions with healthcare experts to receive tailored anti-obesity plans (offered as a monthly subscription service).
Community: Featuring a news feed for users to share posts, follow others, and invite friends to join the platform.
Progress: Visualizing daily challenge tracking in a calendar view.
My Profile: Displaying current weight, target weight, current BMI, ongoing challenges, booked sessions, and upcoming events.
Client Feedback
The completed app concept was presented to the marketing team through a live Zoom session, allowing real-time interaction and feedback. The marketing lead recognized the potential of the app in preventing obesity in Denmark and considered it a viable solution to be considered for future implementation.
This case study demonstrates the successful collaboration between Novo Nordisk, 'Is it a Bird' agency, and the product design team in creating an innovative mobile app concept to address the challenge of preventing obesity and promoting healthier lifestyles.