Johnson & Johnson is one of the leading companies exploring personal health and biometrics. In collaboration with researchers at Carnegie Mellon, Johnson & Johnson developed an algorithm to calculate a single, comprehensive health score based on standards set by the World Health Organization. We saw an opportunity: Wouldn’t that make a good app?
Johnson & Johnson approached Carnegie Mellon with a simple but powerful idea: What if your state of health could be represented as a single, universal number? Behind this idea were the universal standards set out by the World Health Organization (WHO) for healthy metrics, like how many drinks you should have per week and normal blood pressure ranges. Carnegie Mellon came back with an algorithm that, based on a series of simple questions, would calculate a health score from 1-100.
We built a prototype for the Carnegie Mellon and Johnson & Johnson teams. They took our app all the way to Geneva, Switzerland, to demonstrate the health score to members of the (WHO). With the full endorsement of the international health community, we began developing Digital Health Scorecard apps for iPhone, iPad, Windows 8 and Android. We also started to think about what more this app could do. After a user calculated their score, what would make them want to return and use the app again? How could the digital health score translate into something a user could take action on?
We integrated the app with the Withings bluetooth blood pressure cuff to automatically pull in diastolic and systolic values. To help users take action on their results, we designed a way to compare how your result would change if your behavior changed: How much better would your score be if you lowered your blood sugar? How about if you quit smoking?