Defining the functional and architectural specifications to digitalise mental healthcare

Mental healthcare occupies a unique niche within the broader healthcare landscape. Unlike traditional healthcare, where a doctor typically determines a diagnosis and then implements a treatment plan, mental healthcare is more nuanced. The relationship between the care provider and the patient is central to the process. After gaining a deep understanding of this industry and its subtleties, we formulated a comprehensive plan to build a digital solution for psychotherapists and psychiatrists, enabling them to securely store patient records online and create personalized digital treatment pathways.

Strategy track:

Using a product vision board, we mapped out all the strategic dimensions, ensuring we were addressing the right problems for this specific industry and its unique needs.

Design track:

We leveraged our full range of design tools and methodologies to meticulously map out the functional requirements. This involved creating visual prototypes and conducting early user validation to gather feedback and refine the design.

Architectural track:

On the technical front, we designed a robust cloud architecture on Google Cloud Platform, prioritizing security and scalability to meet the specific demands of mental healthcare data management.

Organising a highly effective product development process

Operating model:

We implemented a sprint-based operating model with agile routines, providing structure and clarity to the product development process. This included defining clear milestones, conducting bi-weekly planning sessions, creating well-documented user stories, and ensuring close involvement of the leadership team.

Blended product team:

We assembled a blended product team with a clear mandate: build and release quickly while maintaining high product quality. To achieve this, we implemented extensive automated tests, monitoring tools, stress tests, and other quality assurance measures within the deployment pipelines.

Giving the platform the operational foundations to grow

Launching the platform:

We officially launched QIT in early 2019 and have experienced rapid growth ever since. We implemented various tools to actively capture user feedback and incorporate it into our roadmap decisions, ensuring continuous improvement and responsiveness to user needs.

Regulatory requirements:

Given the sensitive nature of the data, we continuously monitor and refine our technical security practices and operational checks to ensure compliance with the ISO 27001 standard.

Supporting the go-to-market:

As of today, over 1,000 psychotherapists use QIT daily, and this number is consistently and rapidly growing. We streamlined the entire user experience, enabling new prospects to easily sign up, access a 30-day free trial, and automatically receive a prompt to convert to a paid subscription at the end of the trial period. This self-service approach ensures a smooth and efficient onboarding process.