CHSSN Building Tools for better Health Care Supporting the English-speaking communities in Quebec through promoting equitable access to health and social services in English and addressing social determinants of health by relationship building, knowledge sharing, empowering, and training. About Formed in 2000, the Community Health and Social Services Network (CHSSN) is a nonprofit organization that supports English-speaking communities in Quebec in an effort to redress health status inequalities and promote community vitality. The CHSSN works with more than 60 member organizations across the province. They’re also involved in over 40 projects and partnerships in areas like primary health care, community development and population health. The Mandate Following the successful rebrand and launch of their new website, CHSSN approached us with an ambitious project to transform their existing database of resources and data related to the Greater Montreal area into a more user-friendly format. They were looking for a development and design team to bring that data to life with an interactive and engaging map that gives the CHSSN team and its member organizations an impactful tool to better serve their constituents. The Challenge This project was born out of CHSSN’s frustration with a lack of existing tools for parsing vast and complex data sets in a way that provided meaningful insights. At the onset, there was no way to compare data or visualize coverage. Our first challenge was to create a visual representation of Montreal that could break down the data by region, cities and boroughs, as well as regional tables for dispersing funds. To support the creation of this map, we also had the challenge of sorting and categorizing all of the data into a clear and easy to understand format while maintaining its accuracy. We also needed to build a system that would allow organizations to create profiles, manage their service information, and make updates as their coverage changes and expands. This system needed to be user-friendly and intuitive to use. Our Approach From start to finish, this was a deeply collaborative endeavour. We worked closely with CHSSN and their data scientist to understand the scope and breadth of the data involved and to organize it into the categories that would be most relevant to the CHSSN team and its membership. Developing the app was an iterative process. We created multiple prototypes as we deepened our understanding of the needs of the end user and what would be the most relevant to their experience with the app. We were also able to work with a select tester group for an in depth feedback process to help meet our goals for a user-friendly and relevant tool. Marketing What Matters A Map Like No Other We built an app that addressed the fundamental disconnect between how health data and resources are presented in reports and how to make them more relevant and useful to CHSSN and their member organizations. The end result is a tool that can: Provide a visible illustration of the service gaps while providing concrete data to back it up Provide a directory of organizations to facilitate greater inter-organization collaboration Provide organizations with actionable data on the constituency they serve This is making it easier to mobilize resources to bridge gaps in vital services and to ensure that no community is underserved. With the map live, we continue to work on this on-going project that improves the greater good. Make sense of the data Developing an Interactive Data Visualizer There were no out of the box solutions to create what CHSSN was looking for. All of the existing mapping tools were overly complex, requiring extensive technical knowledge to use and understand. This meant we had the freedom to build our web app from the ground up and create a product that fully embodies the mandate of this project. Understanding the Data By far the biggest challenge was to manage the massive amount of data that CHSSN had collected on health resources within the project. We worked closely with CHSSN’s data scientist to sort the data and create a scalable database that could be sorted and correlated with the regional structure of the province. This required multiple rounds of revisions to preserve the accuracy of the data. An Iterative Process The development of the app was always evolving as we found different ways to manage and present information. Multiple prototypes were created as we received more statistics about the services and coverage of member organizations. This iterative process allowed us to fine-tune the user experience. Testing in Collaboration Once we had settled on a working version of the app, we put it in front of a select tester group. This early pilot project generated several rounds of feedback that informed ease of use and UX. Additionally, our select tester group provided us with valuable insights into relevant terminology and use cases for the app. A community lead collaboration Facilitating Member Organizations A key facet of this project was to allow member organizations to manage and update their own information about their services and coverage. We were able to map the user experience with the goal of building a simple and non-technical UI. It was important that we not create any artificial roadblocks preventing organizations from contributing to the map. Launching the Project Charting the Way Forward In late April of 2024, we launched the web app to CHSSN’s member organization. This generated a lot of excitement from organizations across Montreal. Politicians and other health officials also expressed interest in joining, which led to more regions wanting to be added. Expanding Horizons Since the successful launch of the web app, we’ve facilitated access for non-member organizations and government officials, as well as entered a new phase of development. Work is ongoing to add Laval and the Montérégie region to the existing map with the eventual goal of covering the entire province. Laval Monteregie