Case study: Homeweb
The Project
Homeweb is a secure digital mental health platform developed by Homewood Health, providing 24/7 confidential access to counselling, self-guided wellness tools, iCBT programs, and crisis support. It is tailored to users enrolled in Employee and Family Assistance Programs (EFAPs) and integrates proprietary technologies like the Pathfinder™ clinical assessment engine and Sentio™ iCBT to deliver personalized care. Homeweb is accessible via desktop and mobile apps in both English and French.
Role & Contributions
As the technical lead for the front-end team and a key contributor to UX strategy, I played a pivotal role in designing and refining the third and current major version of Homeweb. My contributions included:
- Leading the front-end development team.
- Collaborating directly with the Director of Product and Brand Design throughout the project lifecycle — from wireframes to user flows and stories.
- Spearheading improvements in:
- Booking flow and service discovery.
- Dashboard and navigation.
- Responsive design and accessibility compliance.
- Ensuring performance, consistency, and a modern, intuitive UX across mobile and desktop.
Key Challenges & Considerations
- Balancing clinical safety and academic tools with accessible, user-friendly UX.
- Integrating complex services and modalities (e.g., counselling, content, iCBT, assessments) into a cohesive interface.
- Ensuring compatibility and a seamless experience across browsers, devices, and assistive tech.
- Working with third-party vendors such as RingCentral while maintaining performance and security.
- Meeting business needs related to service utilization, cost control, and monetization, without compromising user access to critical supports.
Impact & Outcomes
My work led to major improvements in the platform’s reliability, accessibility, and scalability:
- Platform stability & uptime: reduced critical errors and dramatically improved site reliability.
- Accessibility: Significant enhancements toward WCAG2.2AA compliance.
- CMS tooling: Enabled non-technical contributors to publish and manage content with ease.
- Service access: Streamlined discovery and booking flows for higher engagement.
- BI & analytics: Provided better access to usage data, enabling informed product and service decisions.
- Design consistency: Delivered a unified experience across Homewood’s product ecosystem.
- Error handling: Improved messaging and fallback flows across the site.