Need — your cancer protection system
Need is an AI health tech company building a cancer protection system that enables anyone, anywhere, to achieve the best cancer outcome. As lead product designer, I led the design vision for two mobile apps: the Need app for consumers and the Hero app for providers. The Need app is designed to help consumers with cancer prevention and early detection. This project was a six-month initiative to redesign the end-to-end mobile experience, driving a 15% increase in MAU.
CHALLENGE
Need app 1.0 struggled with engagement, failing to meet insurer expectations with only 4% MAU
In the B2B2C model, Need is distributed through insurers. Need App 1.0 at this time was falling short of engagement benchmarks. This was a critical issue, as for insurers, keeping policyholders engaged in their health is high-stakes—leading to lower risk, fewer large claims, and greater financial stability.
4%OPPORTUNITY
An opportunity to differentiate insurance healthcare apps with an AI-first approach that engages policyholders proactively
Company-wide, we saw an opportunity to differentiate insurance healthcare apps with an AI-first approach—guiding users, answering health questions, and driving engagement beyond insurance. Most insurance apps are one-way, transactional, and passive.
SOLUTION 1
Need app is designed to deliver age-friendly, personalized, and credible AI-first conversation experience
The app simplifies complex medical information, provides trusted, personalized health insights. One of the key areas I focused on was designing an engaging new user experience—using animated illustrations to make the information digestible, and age-friendly.
SOLUTION 2
Provide instant support and get users connected with Need nurses
Users can ask questions or report cancer-related symptoms. When needed, cases are escalated to Need's dedicated nurses. This experience boosts credibility and addresses initial concerns about AI's lack of warmth and trustworthiness.
SOLUTION 3
Proactively deliver personalized data insights based on users' health data
Beyond user-initiated experiences, I designed proactive Need-initiated interactions that proactively deliver personalized health insights, including screening reminders and annual check-up analyses.
VALIDATION
Refined the conversation flow and LLM tone & voice based on user testing
One of the biggest insights from the user testing session was that the responses felt too robotic, preventing users from engaging more. To address this, I developed the LLM Tone & Voice guidelines, refined prompts, and evaluated responses for both accuracy and tone.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Increased MAU and secured a partnership successfully
This product successfully launched in July 2024. We saw a positive lift in total MAU following the launch. It also secured our existing partnership, scaling to 300k users. In Q4 2024, we empowered partners to confidently launch public marketing with Need.
PRODUCT MARKETING
Achieved an 89% completion rate of the interactive demo
Following a successful launch and strengthened confidence from our business partner, we had the opportunity to collaborate on a marketing initiative that allowed potential customers to try the app. It achieved a high completion rate of 89%, validating strong interest and demand from policyholders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
How to influence solving business-critical problems as a design leader
It was a meaningful project for me as it shaped my growth as a design leader—driving cross-functional collaboration to translate complex AI outputs into intuitive interfaces.