New study: 87% of patients prefer apps over being healthy

This quarter, our research team surveyed 12,000 Zero Health users about their health goals, habits, and feelings about graphs. The headline finding: 87% of patients report they would rather open a wellness app than be well, provided the app has a streak counter and the wellness does not.

The study, which we conducted ourselves and peer-reviewed in a meeting, also found that users who earned the "Hydration Hero" badge were 3x more likely to earn the Hydration Hero badge again, a loyalty effect we found deeply reassuring.

Methodology

Participants were selected using our proprietary recruitment funnel, which is to say they clicked "Allow" on a notification. The survey instrument was an in-app questionnaire that could not be dismissed, which boosted completion rates to a perfect 100% and our uninstall rate to a number we have chosen not to publish.

All results are statistically significant at the p level we had budget for.

What it means

The implications for care delivery are clear. Where traditional medicine has focused on outcomes, our data suggests users prefer interfaces, specifically purple ones. Accordingly, next quarter we are shifting resources from clinical operations to animation polish, and we expect health to follow engagement, as it historically has.

A follow-up study on whether badges cure anything is pending funding from the growth team, who have already titled it.