You already know that 2020 has been a whirlwind. What we once knew of the world was turned upside down. People lost their jobs en masse. People lost loved ones. Masks became the social norm. And health is not at the forefront. It simply hasn’t been a normal year.
And for my business partner and I, it has been unexpected. I’m not really speaking about COVID-19 and its sudden progression. I’m talking about starting something we didn’t expect to become an actual business.
We started IViey as a way to help friends and family connect with healthcare practitioners who were hard to find. We saw their struggle to find qualified specialists in fields that were either unknown or poorly represented. We wanted to change that. Little did we know that this little seed would grow into an actual business entity.
Meet IViey - a platform connecting the community
This idea came to fruition on the back of months of research, testing and executing. And in asking a simple question: why is it so hard for people to find a psychologist? Or gynaecologist? Even a physiotherapist?
Sure, we’re a new startup - which means that we don’t have everything figured out. But what we’ve realized so far is that people appreciate having information, and having accurate information. So what better place to start.
After discussions with patients/clients and practitioners, we quickly realized that access to information was a major problem.
Patients/clients didn’t have the right information to make key decisions. Practitioners were struggling to digitally share their information online in a way that mattered.
That’s not to say that these were the main problems, but they led us on a journey of discovery to truly understand what we can do.
Hence IViey’s Beta platform was born.
Not many people in Trinidad and Tobago understand the term beta. It was an internal phrase we used to help us keep our eye on the bigger picture. Our “beta” was a place and space where we could learn from those who used the platform. This “beta” was a live website that enabled us to initially share our concept and understand how people used it (or didn’t use it) and how information could be accessed.
Did we expect overnight success? Heck no. Did we expect to learn a few things? Oh yea. And what we learned will not fulfill our vision, operations and product for 2021.
My co-founder and I have been working carefully to make the experience better. The numerous cold calls to practitioners to find out their needs and gauge their interest in being a part of IViey. Video chatting with potential users (patients/clients) to know more about what they wanted and why they were motivated (or not motivated) to search for help. The months spent learning and understanding the technology behind our search and our platform, and the time spent to develop the design and execute a live platform. These are a few of the tasks our team did to get us to where we are today.
Because you deserve to know that we care. We want to help practitioners find people who need help. We want to help people in need to find who they need. And we’re willing to put in the hours, days, weeks and months to make it happen.
This time of the year is usually filled with reflection and hope. As a team, we’ve encountered some subtle but impactful truths that have helped us get through the year and lend a hand in shaping our next.
#1: Passionate people exist everywhere.
There are people with passion everywhere. From practitioners who care about their patients/clients to team members who see opportunity to stretch their wings and expand their minds. Passionate people are everywhere and are willing to give others a chance. Just listening to how people work and the commitment they make to simply being there for their patients or clients is heart-warming. And they want to do more, even if they have or make less.
#2: Rome really isn’t built in a day.
There is an understanding that good things take time. And this is no different. We’ve learned to have a more measured approach, one filled with experimentation, testing and reiterating. This way of thinking and working is now a big part of how we improve on our product. We rather be “right” than be “quick.” And to do that, it does take a level of patience and dedication to our cause. Having the patience to see things grow is well worth the wait.
#3: If you’re not solving a problem, then what are you doing?
One of the biggest epiphanies came from a local practitioner we spoke with some time after releasing our beta. I asked them plainly if they were getting value? They said “no, not yet.” I asked why? They simply answered - because it isn’t yet solving my biggest problem.
And that is what matters. We thought we were solving “the” big problem. But there was an even bigger and more deep rooted problem we discovered. And it was only in asking specific questions, and having an open-mind to get feedback and reiterate, did we understand the depth of work we have yet to do. Solve a problem. It matters.
#4: Learning never stops
As a tiny team, we’re confronted daily with challenges that we need to overcome. From simple problems such as communication to complex problems of our product, we’re constantly figuring things out. And this constantly pushes us outside of our comfort zone. I’ve seen shy people turn into world beaters. I’ve seen frustrated team members finally get the hold on their life they’ve been looking for. Heck, I’ve even learned a completely new software tool in a few months because I needed to. There are always opportunities to learn and grow. And it will be useful in future.
#5: Keep it simple
We deal with non-technical people everyday. That’s not to say we’re the great techies of the world. But we understand a lot more than most. But with knowledge can come overwhelm. So interacting with our clients/patients and practitioners, we’re forced to keep things extremely simple. When building any tool, we always think about the end-user, or in this case, the patient, client or practitioner. This has led us to question our thinking and our decisions. It’s helped us keep to what is relevant and keep our helpful and innovative nature. For a young startup on the cusp of doing impactful things, we couldn’t ask for a better motivation than keeping it simple for our users (patients/clients).
All this to say, these lessons help us determine our vision for 2021.
I’ll be honest, we can’t yet talk about specifics. What we can tell you is that we’re looking at building a better way to help connect those in need to those who can help. And we’re looking to take the stress, the guess and the work out of finding the perfect fit.
We’ve already been told that IViey is easy to use and user friendly. But we’re working toward that next step of making IViey a better tool for people to find what they want, when they want it.
That being said, we’ve going to be undertaking a few different projects:
#1: A complete redesign of IViey
Why? We’re going to make IViey even simpler to use, simpler to find information and better equipped to guide you as a patient/client along the way to a better experience.
#2: A better match and search
We’re working on our Research and Development to better match practitioners to those who need help in a way that’s more convenient and even less hassle.
#3: Putting practitioners on par
We’re working with practitioners to find solutions to their problems that help them grow their practice. And we’re looking to help them where it actually hurts, especially when it comes to practitioners diving into the private practice field or young professionals looking for new clients.
We know we can’t do this alone. That’s why we hope to make practitioners and patients/clients a bigger part of our process in 2021. That’s also why I write this. To let you know where we are, what we started and where we’re headed - with the hope that you’ll join us along the journey.
Thank you for being with us in 2020 and look forward to an even better 2021.
Best,
Stefan De Las
Product Designer at IViey Healthcare Ltd.
