YOU+: A health app with a real doctor behind it

Written by
Published on Nov. 11, 2014

[ibimage==33994==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-center]

If you think the fitness and wellness market is saturated, YOU+ director of products Charlie Hale might agree with you. But dig a little deeper and Hale thinks you’ll find a massive market opportunity. 

“There are a lot of isolated products out there that just don’t work together and don’t paint the full picture,” said Hale. For West Hollywood-based YOU+, isolated metrics and products (the ones that fail to give users a holistic view of their health and the necessary information to improve it) just weren’t cutting it. Instead, the team wanted to give clients a better and easier way to understand how fitness, nutrition and sleep interact and can help (or harm) an individual’s health goals. Their long-term goal: “to be where luminosity meets health products,” said Hale.

From the Doctor’s Office to Your Phone

The system YOU+ developed came directly from the clinical experience of Steven Willey, a St. Louis-based doctor. Over years of testing and studying his own patients, alongside peer-reviewed research, Willey developed a system that evolved into a consumer product. By working with other physicians and studying doctor-patient interactions, the YOU+ team discovered the key questions needed to provide users the best feedback for their goals. After users complete a health and fitness assessment, You+ develops a personalized fitness, nutrition and sleep system that works together. Users get constant feedback and physician-assisted advice throughout the day. 

The product is still in beta testing, but the company plans to launch their web app and iOS app in December, with an android app launching on the first of January. The company is also launching a clinical study in November and building an entire ‘research wing’ to complement their core work. 

Though still in beta testing, YOU+ says its user feedback has been fantastic so far. “Whenever you simplify a decision for somebody, ears can perk up,” said Hale, and that’s exactly what the company is doing.

Some of the more interesting feedback comes from users wanting to know how to make the best of bad situation. When eating a salad, users aren’t likely to ask what’s best to put on it, but when in McDonalds, users want help from YOU+. “People are more interested in the answers to situations when people haven’t made the right choices. They can use us to be that problem solver,” added Hale. 

With user input, the team’s algorithm can identify behavioral patterns and use those to help nudge users in a new way.  One of the more common examples, according to Hale, is diet soda. If a user is inputting higher than normal diet soda consumption, the app can send them suggestions for healthier alternatives, gently nudging their behavior to more healthful actions.

[ibimage==33985==Large==none==self==ibimage_align-left]

High Demands

One of the biggest challenge YOU+ faced as a startup was meeting the team’s own high expectations and matching their deep understanding with a simple and useful user experience. 

Hale – who is not a doctor – says that working with physicians means taking on a new mindset. Doctors are used to every part of their process being critical to a positive outcome, so even when the team was developing algorithms (the purview of a mathematician and not a doctor), the physicians were critical of each step. In the end though, that just makes the system all the more robust. 

App Meet Book

While the team is busing preparing for the web and iOS launch in December, they are also working on a book launch. The book, Reprogram Your Life: Bioscience for a Healthier You, digs deeper into the topic.

Content is a big component for YOU+. The team is developing lots of content and aims to be the go-to-place for Q&A with doctors.   

A Small but Growing Team

The 12-person team is “well-funded” and looking to expand in the near future. Positions in sales and mid-level designers are likely to open after January.

Do you know a tech startup that deserves coverage? Email us via [email protected]

 
Explore Job Matches.