We pride ourselves on creating meaningful, user-centered solutions that make a difference. Peer Pals approached us with a heartfelt mission: to create a supportive, inclusive, and informative platform for kidney patients and their loved ones. Living with kidney issues can be isolating and overwhelming, and Peer Pals sought to address these challenges by fostering a community where users can find support, guidance, and a sense of belonging.

This case study outlines how we collaborated with Peer Pals to bring their vision to life, from initial ideation to the launch of a feature-rich mobile application.

Project Objectives Peer Pals had three primary objectives:

1. Support and Community: Build a digital space where kidney patients and their families can connect with peers who share similar experiences.

2. Education and Resources: Provide easy access to reliable information about kidney health, treatments, and lifestyle tips.

3. Ease of Use: Develop a user-friendly app that is accessible to people of all ages and tech proficiency levels.

Challenges Developing Peer Pals presented several challenges:

• Privacy Concerns: Ensuring that sensitive health information remains secure and private.

• Community Moderation: Creating a safe, positive space for users while preventing misinformation or harmful content.

• Diverse User Base: Designing for a wide demographic, including patients, caregivers, and medical professionals.

Our Approach To meet Peer Pals’ goals, we adopted a collaborative and iterative approach:

1. Discovery Phase

   • Conducted user research through interviews with kidney patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers.

   • Defined key personas and mapped user journeys to understand pain points and needs.

2. Design and Development

   • Community Features: Built a forum-style interface where users can join discussion groups, share stories, and offer advice.

   • Peer Matching: Matching users with similar experiences, such as age, condition, or treatment type with connections and in-app messaging

   • Educational Content: Integrated a library of verified articles, videos, and FAQs on kidney health, updated regularly.

   • User-Friendly Design: Focused on accessibility, incorporating large text options, simple navigation, and a clean interface.

3. Privacy and Security

   • Implemented end-to-end encryption data handling practices.

   • Included features for content moderation on both a user and administrator side.

4. Testing and Feedback

   • Conducted usability testing with a diverse group of beta users.

   • Incorporated feedback to refine features and improve overall user experience.

Key Features of Peer Pals

• Community Forums: Dedicated spaces for specific topics, such as dialysis tips, caregiver support, and dietary advice.

• Peer Matching: Personalized connections.

• Resource Library: Comprehensive, medically-reviewed content tailored to different stages of kidney health.

• Kidney News: Providing the latest treatment and general news within the Kidney community.

The Outcome

The Peer Pals app launched successfully, receiving positive feedback from users and healthcare professionals alike. Key metrics include:

• User Engagement: Over 80% of users actively participate in forums or other features weekly.

• Growth: Achieved a 150% increase in registered users within the first three months post-launch.

• Satisfaction: 95% of surveyed users reported feeling more supported.

Peer Pals is a testament to the power of technology in fostering community and improving lives. By combining empathy-driven design with robust technical execution, we created a platform that truly addresses the needs of kidney patients and their families.

We are proud to have partnered with Peer Pals to make a meaningful impact and look forward to supporting their continued growth.

We enjoy our continuing work with and supporting PeerPals helping them to design and build additional features along with maintaining the platform.