CASE STUDY: Etho, a support platform for the health community
Some context about the project
Etho is the brainchild of GP Jethro Hubbard. This project was born from the ever increasing strain on health workers in the UK. Jethro was witnessing a sharp rise in mental and physical fatigue among his colleagues that was decimating the work force and definitely not sustainable without some sort of intervention.
The project began just before the biggest threat the health community has faced in a generation: the Covid pandemic. That crisis event exposed how a project like Etho is needed now more than ever.
The premise is simple: your team is your biggest investment. Keeping them happy, productive and engaged is key to your success. Etho helps you get the basics right.
This was a collaborative project. My role covered brand identity, UX/UI design and website design and development, working directly with CEO Jethro Hubbard, Medical Director Finn Dixon and App Developer Chris Steel.
Services provided:
- Discovery phase
- Brand development
- MVP design
- UI design
- Website design & development
Discovery phase & Creating Etho’s brand
Etho gave me true design freedom over the overall theme, messaging and visual direction This is exactly the kind of brief where I do my best work.
From the outset the product was designed for health workers of all ages, genders and ethnicities. Finding imagery that felt not only caring but genuinely authentic was paramount. That's a real challenge when working within Creative Commons imagery to keep costs down. We have plans to bring in a professional photographer down the line and photograph real workers. Luckily I'm an expert at trawling available sources to find the gems.
Colour Palette
For the colour system I wanted to convey a sense of being future-facing while also feeling safe and trustworthy. A pink and blue gradient evokes the sun rising on a new horizon, while a green and blue gradient brings a sense of calm and trust. These two ideas were woven together into the logo and across the full brand identity.
Updating the logo
Etho had an existing logo they'd invested in and wanted to retain, updated to work within the new branding. Drawing on the same two ideas from the colour system about being future-facing and trustworthy… I brought those together in the plus sign, which doubles as a standalone logomark for marketing and other applications. The choice felt natural given the health context.
That said, I think the logo is due a proper revamp in the future. In its current form, the stencil effect gives it the feel of a military or shipping company which is not quite the warmth and reassurance that Etho's messaging calls for. Something I hope to revisit with them.
Typography
The original brief was for a single page website and supporting marketing material. So one soft, friendly typeface was the right call and Bariol fit perfectly. As the product evolved into a full app, legibility at smaller sizes became a priority.
Fortunately the same type foundry behind Bariol also makes Bariol Serif, so I brought that in alongside it for diversity and clarity across the app interface.
Iconography
Every custom icon was designed to feel friendly and inviting. Since circles feature heavily in the embellishment elements throughout the brand, all icons carry a consistently rounded, soft edge to maintain that visual cohesion.
All icons are pixel-perfect, built across various sizing systems depending on their intended use.
UI elements
Minimalism is my modus operandi when I’m creating UI elements. For this app I created something stripped back, but easy to navigate and understand immediately.
Launching the MVP & website
The MVP was rolled out 2 practices with 100+ employees over an 18 month timeframe. The response was a genuine and welcome surprise. The enthusiasm from staff and practitioners alike said a lot about how badly something like Etho was needed. It’s amazing how launching to just a select few clinics immediately gave out such valuable insights.
Testing the product
Identifying a few key challenges
As with any new protocol, there are going to be teething problems and a learning curve. One of Etho's biggest ongoing challenges is encouraging health workers to remember to check out and log how they feel at the end of the day. As you can imagine, most people just want to get home after a long shift!
Initial findings
Multiple surveys of health workers using the app have returned overwhelmingly positive results. Here are some of the headline stats:
- 83% of staff felt more positive about their organisation after the wellbeing check-in was implemented.
- 98% of staff leave a wellbeing score on checkout.
- 9/10 - average score given for 'how do you feel about entering a wellbeing score’.
Future iterations
Having established the MVP and gathered meaningful data, the next step is a thorough research process with health workers. Identifying the key pressure points around logging, understanding what makes them feel comfortable being honest about how they feel, and finding ways to make the whole experience as frictionless as possible.
From there, a fully fledged app will be designed and developed based on everything we've learned.
