Find out what Mumsnet testers thought of Healthily

[GraceEMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the Mumsnet users who tested Healthily and its Smart Symptom Checker.

Testers, you can now share your feedback! Please do so by responding to the questions below on this thread, as well as filling in the survey that we have emailed to you.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?

All testers who leave the required feedback will receive a £5 Amazon voucher and an annual subscription to the Healthily app!

Here’s what Healthily has to say:

“Healthily is a health information website, an award-winning app and a sophisticated Smart Symptom Checker – one of the most accurate and advanced in the world. Healthily provides medically safe information that helps anyone, anywhere, decide on the best next steps and how to manage their health and wellbeing safely at home.”

Thanks!

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

1) Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?
It was easy to use, but couldn't allow for more nuanced answers.

2) What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?
The articles were clear and informative. I liked the way the sections were subdivided so you could pick your areas of interest.

3) Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?
Yes, I found it easy to navigate.

4) Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?
It wasn't all relevant to me, but there was a wide enough range of topics to enable me to find interesting articles.

5) Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?
No, not really. I tried a few different minor symptoms and every time it told me to contact my GP, which made the app seem a bit pointless. I can see there is a danger in an app being seen as negligent if it doesn't make this recommendation when a condition is serious, but it didn't seem to be able to make this judgement as the questions lacked nuance.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

Yes I did find it easy to use, it was straightforward to follow and the checker was accurate when I put in my symptoms of a migraine.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

The articles were useful and easy to understand. There were lots of topics that were relevant to me and my family so I enjoyed reading them.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?

Yes the website is easy to navigate and way to access information. The design and graphics were impressive. I would definitely use it again in the future.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?

Yes I feel that the website articles suited my family needs and would use it again.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

Yes, the heather checker was really easy to use. I felt it covered lots of different aspects of health to give you the most likely diagnosis suggestion. I've used similar symptom checkers in the past and they aren't as comprehensive.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

Really useful actually. There were some really good articles on fertility, which I recommend to a friend who is having trouble conceiving.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?

Yes, the website is clearly broken down into sections, although at first glance it does look a bit busy.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?

Yes, sleep!! I have always struggled with my sleep and it has reminded me that I don't have to.

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?

I did use it and would use the health checker again, especially if it's something I'm not sure I need to see my doctor about.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?
   Pretty easy to use - lots of good content

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?
   Some better than others but quite useful

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?
   Pretty self explanatory website

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?
   Yes, useful health information

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?
   Not too sure - I think I rather see a doctor
   Didn't give me too much confidence

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

Yes, it was clear and easy to follow although some questions seemed to jump around a bit of then come back to something similar as if it was asking the same thing in a different way. It was good to have a few different suggestions put forward at the end.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

The information is very clear and well written. It's nice to have the names of the writers and experts - makes it feel more human and trustworthy. The high number of links within the copy are also very helpful

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?

Yes, it's a well designed site.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?

Yes, there's a wide range of information and topics.

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?

Some useful hints and suggestions came up in some articles, but overall there was nothing particularly beyond the obvious next steps. But I'll certainly bear the site in mind for future issues as maybe something else will better benefit from the symptom checker.

1. did you find the Healthy Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what are your favourite features?

Yes it was easy to use and clear questions. It did feel a bit endless but because I picked something generic as I’m in actually fairly good health at the moment!

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

Yes easy to understand. It made me feel like I wanted to make changes (although it didn’t stick for long sadly!)

3. were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly

Yes - no issues there. Website clear and easy to use

4. was the health content relevant to you and your needs?

Yes as had topics on sleep, nutrition, mental health etc, lots of relevant content

5. did the content and smart symptom checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?

At moment in good health! So no but I appreciated how detailed it was (even though the questions felt endless!)

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

Yes, easy to use. The questions were clear, but there quite a few similar/same types which became a little repetitive, but totally understand why.

However, there was one question that asked me if I had had my uterus removed, to which I answered 'yes' [I have had a total hysterectomy] and the very next question asked if I had recently had my period!

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?
   Quite helpful and well written. Some of the articles provided some insightful and thorough examples and ideas.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?
   Yes, pretty clear and easy to find.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?
   Yes, some of it. I do however tend to use forums to garner personal experiences rather than articles that are 'catch-all' and 'magazine article type.'

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?

The symptom checker didn't really address my health concerns I am afraid. I had a gastric problem but suggested that I had a urinary-tract infection.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

Yes very easy to use and navigate, thorough questioning which I felt was important to get to the bottom of the issue. I really likes how simple the prompts were, guiding you along the way. Foolproof really.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

I thought the articles were very relevant, lots to choose from and well written yet not too ‘over the top’ even though they are written by experts the language is not too medical.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?

Yes, easy to navigate and quite intuitive which is nice.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?

Yes, particularly at the stage of life I’m at and with regarding to TTC, pregnancy etc as well as healthy living, eating, sleeping and exercising I found it really useful and there are some great tips I’ve actually implemented already.

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?

Mostly, yes. I used it for a few different things and some came up with no real conclusion other than to contact GP whereas others were useful and helpful with regards to information and advice

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?
   Yes very easy to use-liked the fact that it was easy to navigate

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?
   Useful-clear and lots of information that was easy to follow

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?
   Yes, no problems navigating,very easy to use.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs? Yes, very relevant

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next? It did and was very useful- I felt very confident about what to do next

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

Very easy. The prompts were very helpful.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

I liked what I saw - simple and informative

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?

It was very easy to use

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?

Yes.

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?

Yes - came up with things I had suspected anyway and gave clear next steps.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?
   Yes, it was easy to navigate.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?
   Wide range of articles, easy to read and digest.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?
   Yes.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?
   Yes.

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?
   Yes, I followed the advise and contacted my GP.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

Yes - just straight forward and clear in general. Liked the articles.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

I enjoyed the articles - especially the ones linked to well-being. These were easy for people to understand as were written in an accessible way.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?

Yes

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?

Yes - helpful re well-being.

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?

I didn’t like this I am afraid. It just freaked me out. Also, there was no option for breastfeeding and wording needs tweaking on some questions as I think my personal circumstances couldn’t be taken fully into account re the symptom checker for the questions I tried.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

Yes, I thought the checker was very easy to use and liked all of the different suggestions. I liked the different sections in the report, the diagnosis, what steps to take now and when to seek further help,

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

The articles were clear and straight forward. They were well laid out and provided clear information.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?

The website was easy to navigate through the links. I could find all of the information that I needed.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?

The health content was relevant to my needs. The level of detail provided was good.

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next? The Smart Symptom Checker reassured me about a current concern. I liked that there was information about what I should do if my symptoms changed at all,

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?
   V. Easy to navigate and use.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?
   I found the information very easy to read. Some of the information was slightly more simplistic than I expected

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?
   Very easy to navigate and identify the information I needed.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?
   Yes, relevent but a bit simplistic

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?
   Yes. Clear and relevant information and advice

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

It was easy to type in your symptoms but I didn't find the result particularly useful / accurate.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

The info was very easy easy to understand to follow however I didn't feel I learnt anything new from the articles.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly
   The website was easy to navigate.
   ?

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs

Yes they were but I did t feel they told me anything I could t find elsewhere.

?

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next? Not really.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features? Yes. I liked that the questions got more detailed so you had confidence in getting the correct diagnosis.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand? Yes very helpful and easy to understand. I took a few ideas away to get a start on life changes

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly? Yes definitely

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs? Yes

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next? Yes I need to visit the GP

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?
   Really easy and straightforward to use, I liked that it gave detailed answers.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?
   The information was really easy and useful and there were loads of articles which was great.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?
   The website was really easy to navigate and very simple to use which was a bonus.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?
   Yes, the content was relevant and very useful for my needs, I have already recommended it to a friend.

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?
   It confirmed something that I have had recently been diagnosed with so I think it's pretty accurate and gave me good advice on what to do.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features? Yes. I like it when I input symptoms it will customise for me

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

Very easy to use
3) Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly? In the beginning it takes some navigation but very easy to pick up

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs? Yes

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next? I think it is a good tool but I would still go to my gp for reassurance

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

Yes it was very easy to use. I found that there was a lot of clear questions and the diagnosis was very informative.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?
   I thought the articles were easy to understand and were interesting.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?
   Yes, the website was very easy to navigate and are split in to different sections.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?
   Yes definitely.

*5) Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?
Yes i put in a health concern I have had for a while. It gave me a clear diagnosis which I thought it probably was. It gave me lots of detailed information.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

Yes, it was easy to use but I found it assumed all symptoms were from the same ailment. I had backache when filling it in which is unrelated to my foot pain but led to a diagnosis of slipped disk

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

I liked the way the information was broken down and linked, with handy takeaway points.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly? Yes
4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?

Yes.
5) Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next

I feel the symptom checker was a bit hit and miss, and probably nothing you couldn't get elsewhere by googling symptoms

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?
   Easy to use on my phone.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?
   I like the articles and found them interesting without being patronising. Also liked that further articles were linked at the end if you want to read more.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?
   Yup. Used the search option a couple of times to see what would come up and and got the information I wanted.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?
   Going through the process of being diagnosed with a long term condition so found some good articles that were relevant to me.

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?
   Put my symptoms in and got the condition I was expecting 👍 was asked some quite random questions and I did wonder what the result would be!

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?

Easy, yes, but lacking in functionality. I expected to be able to input multiple symptoms that could be linked before it asked further questions. As it didn't ask questions about the other specific symptoms in the questionnaire, it was pretty inaccurate

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?

They were ok, easy to understand but pretty basic content.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?

Yes

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?

Not majorly but some ok tips in there

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?

Not all. I had high expectations of this app being able to help with womens health as its being tested on Mumsnet, and wanted to test it out to see if I could draw any conclusions about hormone related symptoms, but regrettably, like much medical advice, it's knowledge of womens issues was woefully poor.

I've been keeping track of symptoms I have throughout the month which I know to be hormone related, but haven't yet reached a diagnosis. Likely hormone imbalance, PCOS, PMDD, early perimenopause or caused by endometriosis (already diagnosed) etc. None of these were flagged in any of the symptoms I inputted.

Night sweats = sleep apnoea (checked nothing that would indicate that)

Periods of Anxiety = Anxiety

Facial Hair growth = hirsuitism

Headache & Painful periods did both pick up on womens issues, but told me it was PMS and should be managed with self-care

But most worryingly...
Ringing in the ear = brain cancer! (I monitor this and it coincides with hormone related anxiety during ovulation and before my period so I won't panic just yet!)

No other explanations or potential causes listed and really no attempt to surface the underlying causes of symptoms.

Taking these at face value could be incredibly dangerous.

Even symptoms that are extremely commonly related to PCOS, peri etc like night sweats and facial hair growth did not attempt to relate it or ask any questions that would indicate this.

I could get more info from just popping my symptoms into Google.

Very disappointing. These things just reinforce how much womens health is still so overlooked and misunderstood.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?
   Easy to use. One problem very comprehensive but the other no useful info at all

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?
   Articles are clearly written but a little basic. The articles I chose did not give me any new information.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?
   Very easy to navigate and understand

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?
   Yes. A wide range of articles which were well linked. However, a little basic.

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?
   One symptom did really well, however another (suddenly heavy periods) had no useful info.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?
   It was very easy to use. My favourite feature was the detailed answers you could select rather than just yes/no answers.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?
   The articles were informative and well-written.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?
   Site navigation was simple.

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?
   Some of the content was relevant but I have long-term conditions so had to bear that in mind. No different to any other site in that respect.

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?
   Yes, I put in some details and was advised to see a medical professional to be checked out asap.

1. Did you find the Healthily Smart Symptom checker easy to use? If so, what were your favourite features?
   I like this feature as it's one I used to use on the NHS website regularly but then they scrapped it, this is something I would definitely use.

2. What did you think of the articles on the Healthily website? Was the information useful and easy to understand?
   The information was easy to understand and it was relevant Information.

3. Were you able to navigate the website easily and find the information you wanted quickly?
   Yes

4. Was the health content relevant to you and your needs?
   Yes, I wanted information on anxiety and it was very relevant and useful

5. Did the content and Smart Symptom Checker address any health concerns you had? Did you feel confident about what to do next?
   Yes it confirmed that I need to go to the doctors as the next step