Uvisa - Validating the Need for a Medical Device Companion App

At Uvisa, I led discovery research to evaluate whether a companion app would create real value. The insights shifted the focus from launching another app to designing smarter digital support around real user needs.

My Role

UX Researcher

Scope

MVP App Concept
& Research Strategy

Timeline

~3 months

Context

Uvisa is a medical device and digital health startup developing a first-of-its-kind, light-based, drug-free treatment for vaginal infections.

I joined the team while the physical device was still under development. A key strategic question had emerged:

Should Uvisa invest in building a companion app — or would it add little real value to users?

My role was to answer this through research before resources were committed to development.

My approach

I designed a qualitative discovery study grounded in three principles:

  • Focus on behavior over stated preference

  • Let insights challenge assumptions

  • Choose research methods based on the question — not trends

Method

  • 10 semi-structured interviews

  • Observation of real tracking app usage

  • Thematic analysis & qualitative reduction

  • Competitor research

Research Design

What I explored:

  1. How women use tracking apps today

  2. Loyalty and switching behavior

  3. Attitudes toward sensitive health topics

  4. Experiences with recurring vaginal infections

Participants walked me through their current apps to uncover real habits — not hypothetical opinions.

Key Insights

A companion app alone would not create value

Participants rejected apps that exist “just because.”
If it doesn’t provide new insight, it becomes digital noise.

Recurring infections lack pattern recognition

Many experienced recurring vaginal infections but:

  • Couldn’t identify triggers

  • Didn’t see long-term patterns

  • Had no predictive support

They valued cycle apps when symptom logging translated into meaningful insight.

→ The value isn’t tracking.
→ The value is pattern recognition.

Strong ecosystem loyalty

Users rarely switch health apps due to:

  • Historical data

  • Habit

  • Trust

A standalone Uvisa app would face significant adoption barriers.

Education gap & taboo

Confusion and stigma around vaginal health were common.
There was a clear need for accessible, stigma-free education — but not necessarily in a separate app.

Strategic Recommendation

To complete my handover to Uvisa's team, I did a brief competitior research, understanding the funcion of current apps out there that 1) have a tracking function and 2) are intended towards women. There were no direct competitors, but the intial qualitative research suggested that women who used these apps preferred to stick to the apps they were already using and found it a hassle to move their data. Therefore, a barrier of adoption had me suggest a merger: developing a VI tracking algorythm which could be adapted to already existing cycle tracking apps.

Results

I recommended not building a standalone companion app at this stage.

Instead:

  • Develop a vaginal infection tracking algorithm

  • Focus on predictive insights

  • Explore integration with existing cycle tracking platforms

  • Deliver education through flexible digital touchpoints

Impact

This research helped the team pause before building something just because it felt expected.

Instead of jumping into app development, we clarified where digital would actually create value — and where it wouldn’t.

For me, the key outcome was creating that clarity early, ensuring any future investment would solve a real user problem, not just add another feature.

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