Developing the No.1 Medical App in the UK

About the Client

Big Motive is a company that makes digital products and services that improve people’s lives.

They partnered with Q to build an app that would simulate and predict future pandemic spread. It was a ground-breaking nationwide citizen experiment that gathered data to help researchers predict the potential spread of a deadly flu outbreak across the UK.

Discovery

Throughout medical history, flu outbreaks have been a constant threat. The catastrophic impact of COVID-19 brought the world to its knees in 2021.

Q partnered with Big Motive, a Belfast-based design and innovation studio, to create a unique mobile app for this groundbreaking scientific experiment. Enrolling at least 10,000 participants to submit their answers and data via the app was crucial to the success of the experiment.

Design

Big Motive has created the design for the mobile app.

Development

The system was designed and developed to completely anonymise data, excluding any identifying information. Understanding what users are agreeing to is crucial to building trust that will encourage them to participate.

The app uses strict policy procedures and security features to prevent unauthorised access or misuse of any personal information.

End Result

By inviting the people to participate in this nationwide experiment, with the BBC Pandemic app, they could improve the understanding and quality of data that could potentially provide scientific models to fight back against the virus.

Over 100 000 people took part in this experiment and helped create a new gold dataset standard for the future.

BBC Pandemic mobile app could be a key factor in preparing for the next pandemic outbreak by identifying the human networks and behaviors that could potentially spread the virus. In the future, the application will help make more accurate predictions and models for outbreak control.