Co-Creating Pal: How Real-World Feedback Shaped Our Product
Pal
After months of conversations and co-creation with our community, we knew exactly what to build. But instead of diving straight into developing all four functionalities in isolation, we took a more collaborative and deliberate approach—testing our solution in a real caregiving setting.
We chose one functionality to develop first and built it using a no-code platform. This reduced time to market, lowered development costs (necessity being the mother of invention), and, most importantly, shortened the feedback and iteration cycle.
The functionality we prioritized was At-Home Monitoring, one of the most highly requested features.
It helps patients and family caregivers observe, recognize, and track symptoms and their intensity over time. Studies prove that this leads to better symptom management, increased comfort, reduced risks of complications, and, above all, an improved quality of life for patients.
Inside our closed beta pilot
We invited a mix of independent care recipients and chosen family caregivers from diverse backgrounds and locations to get a comprehensive understanding of their needs regarding usability, functionality, and language.
Our closed beta pilot included 50 participants: 38 family caregivers and 12 care recipients from nine countries. These participants represented the core groups Pal was designed to serve. Over an average of three weeks, they integrated Pal into their care journey, sharing invaluable feedback through interviews, surveys, and analytics.
The structure of the pilot included 32 care teams, each consisting of 1 to 5 users. Of these, 12 teams featured both caregivers and care recipients as users, while 20 teams were caregiver-only. This is how the care teams were spread:
The care recipients (a total of 32 individuals) authentically reflected the palliative care landscape, with the majority navigating cancer diagnoses.
Objectives of the Pilot
The pilot was designed to address four critical areas:
- Demand: Confirm the interest and appetite among families for a digital support tool.
- Usability: Assess whether participants could intuitively navigate Pal and use its features effortlessly.
- Relevance: Determine whether Pal effectively addressed participants’ caregiving challenges and priorities.
- Impact: Test Pal in real-world settings (patients’ homes) to evaluate how well it met their needs and supported at-home symptom management.
What we learnt
Our closed beta pilot, tested in real caregiving settings, confirmed a strong demand for a personalized digital tool in palliative care.
- Users were eager to involve multiple family members in their care teams, so we added a direct invite feature to make this easier.
- The ability to add custom symptoms quickly became the most popular and widely used feature.
- Participants wanted simpler onboarding and clearer navigation, leading us to redesign the interface for a more intuitive, user-friendly experience—especially for first-time users.
In-depth conversations and feedback highlighted additional features to support and encourage ongoing engagement:
- In-app reminders to update or add symptoms.
- Personalized tips based on symptoms and severity to guide next steps.
- Options to log positive symptoms or wellness indicators.
- Faster app performance for a smoother experience.
Here’s what our users told us:
“I have loved using the app so far, and it’s actually become a bit of a routine for us. Every night before bed, we talk about all the symptoms M experienced that day and I add them. We showed it to the nurses when we were in the hospital over the weekend and the oncology nurses also thought it was awesome.”
Caregiver from Canada
“Logging my symptoms with this app has made it so much easier to keep my two sons updated on how I’m feeling. They don’t live in my city so this helps them when they need to reach out to my doctor on my behalf. ”
Care recipient from the United Kingdom
“N. has difficulty with her hands & short-term memory, so I’ve had to be that memory for her. I am not presently caring for her in person, as I am recovering from surgery myself, but Pal has come in really handy as I speak with her constantly and can track her symptoms, which I often had to do on my calendar before.”
Caregiver from the United States
“I’ve just started radiation and chemo and Pal is really helping me feel like I’m in control. Thank you.”
Care recipient from the United States
“My siblings and I have struggled for so long to keep tabs on all of dad’s symptoms since we share the caregiving responsibility among ourselves. This app helps us remember all the symptoms, share our thoughts, and see how things develop over time.”
Caregiver from the Netherlands
The pilot reinforced the value of ongoing user collaboration. Our participants truly became co-creators, guiding Pal’s development and making sure it’s rooted in real caregiving experiences. Their feedback continues to shape Pal’s evolution, to this day.
