An online charity platform for women living with HIV
‘Focus Media’ foundation has been working in the field of preserving public health and developing civil initiatives since 1996.
Client
Create a portal where women can easily get counselling and answers to questions about HIV.
Task
Prototyping
Our main strategy was to create a mobile-first site, since 70% of visitors visit the site from mobile devices.
The limitations of the mobile platform have influenced the design and development. It was important that women could get all the necessary information and full access to the site from both their phones and computers.
The target audience of the project is women aged 35 to 50 years. We have added tips and instructions to the most important pages, so even an inexperienced user will not get confused and can easily get the necessary help.
Anonymity
User anonymity was our main priority when designing the site.
To get a consultation, the user goes through a quick registration by phone number. But even without registration, women can get answers to frequently asked questions.
Each doctor undergoes a strict check. The personal data is confirmed and can be changed only by system administrators. That ensures the consultation is carried out by a trusted professional.
Each doctor undergoes a strict check. The personal data is confirmed and can be changed only by system administrators. That ensures the consultation is carried out by a trusted professional.
Consultation
To get an answer to the question is essential when asking a doctor. The site does not show either the doctor’s name or her discipline in the chat list. Instead, the question is always the focus.
It is important for a woman to feel comfortable discussing her problems; that is why we have designed a feature to show only female doctors.
The site has a list of online resources where users can learn more about HIV or get additional help, and a map of organisations that provide assistance to people with HIV+ status. Paid organisations are additionally marked.
Organisations
It is important that a person is not left alone with their problem. One of the goals of the project was to create a community of people supporting each other. To do this, we have added a section with personal stories of women living with HIV and a private chat function in Viber.
Community
During registration, users do not have to enter their real names, any pseudonym will work.
Users cannot upload photos or enter any personal information. The doctors only see pseudonyms and it is up to the user what she decides to reveal about herself.
Design
Using pastel colours and flowing shapes, we have made the UI delicate and soft, conveying a friendly image of the portal.
Since most of the users come from mobile devices, it was important to create a website that looks and feels like a mobile app.
Vivid red elements accent the main actions on the page, strengthen the visual hierarchy and help users find exactly what they are looking for.
Vivid red elements accent the main actions on the page, strengthen the visual hierarchy and help users find exactly what they are looking for.
Development and technology
SMS-registration
To make signing up as easy as possible, we have used SMS-registration. To access the site, users only need a mobile phone number.
GraphQL
We use GraphQL to work with API requests. Unlike REST, GraphQL queries return only the fields you need—the result can be used as is, without additional clean-up.
GraphQL makes it easy to aggregate data from different resources and returns a single result, even if each field is in its own resource.
GraphQL APIs are organised in terms of types and fields. That makes it easier to check if the query is correct before execution.
WebSocket
Created a chat for the first time ever. For that, we used WebSocket protocol, the same as Telegram and Facebook use. Now our projects can be even more advanced.
We made 63 pages for phones, tablets, and desktops. In 24 days, we designed the UI, developed a website, and launched a project.
