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Breastcancer.org iPhone App

Mobile Application
Client: Breastcancer.org

Client since 2000

Project Overview

Breastcancer.org’s Breast Cancer Diagnosis Guide is an Official Honoree of the 2011 Webby Awards!

Download the Breast Cancer Diagnosis Guide in the App Store »

Breastcancer.org is a Philadelphia-area non-profit organization with the most heavily trafficked breast cancer website in the world (source: Alexa). Breastcancer.org helps millions of women every year understand their breast cancer diagnosis and make informed treatment decisions. But ongoing user research highlighted the shortcomings of website-only based information delivery.

Women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer often do not know what questions to ask or what information to look for. User research also confirmed that many breast cancer patients confuse similar-sounding aspects of their diagnosis, for example stage number (1 through 4) vs. grade number (1 through 3). Another issue that research participants reported was that they didn’t always have access to all of their diagnosis information when at doctor appointments, and typically did not have access to their computers either.

Foraker Labs developed the Breast Cancer Diagnosis Guide, an iPhone application designed to reach newly diagnosed breast cancer patients in their pockets and purses—and encourage them to ask informed questions of their medical team.

Foraker Labs conducted two rounds of usability testing during development, and worked closely with Breastcancer.org medical advisory and editorial staff to develop a user-friendly application flow. Foraker Labs then designed an engaging and touchscreen-friendly graphic design for the app, and proceeded into development.

In addition to the iPhone app, a stand-alone Ruby on Rails application was developed to handle the complex system of matching rules that delivers personalized articles to each app user based on their diagnostic characteristics. The iPhone app adheres to Apple’s strict Human Interface Guidelines, and was approved by Apple with a week of submission. Version 1.1 of the app featured new search functionality, support for landscape mode, and TRUSTe privacy certification.

The app has attracted thousands of downloads in the few months it has been available, and has garnered media attention from the New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, Information Week, and more.