Our partnership in brief
Clusters partnered with a health innovation organisation to evaluate four new health and wellbeing app concepts prior to launch.
The client needed to understand which idea offered the greatest potential reach across the UK adult population; and how to engage both current app users and harder-to-reach audiences.
Through robust proposition testing and behavioural insight, Clusters identified the strongest concept for investment and provided a clear roadmap for maximising adoption.
Challenge
The client had developed four distinct digital health app concepts, each designed to improve personal health and wellbeing in different ways.
However, launching and scaling a digital health product is costly and competitive. The organisation needed clarity on:
- Which concept had the broadest appeal
- Which would attract the most unique users
- How different demographic groups would respond
- What would motivate or prevent downloads
- How to reach audiences not currently using health apps
Crucially, over half of UK adults were not using any health and wellbeing apps at all; presenting a significant engagement challenge.
The client required robust, nationally representative evidence to inform strategic investment decisions.
Solution
Clusters designed and delivered a quantitative proposition testing study with a nationally representative sample of UK adults aged 18+.
The research explored:
- Current health behaviours and attitudes
- Existing app usage
- Willingness to share health data
- Appeal and distinctiveness of each app concept
- Likelihood to download
- Motivations and barriers to adoption
- Referral and recommendation drivers
Evaluating concept appeal
Each of the four app propositions was tested in detail to understand:
- Overall appeal
- Perceived credibility
- Emotional response
- Likelihood of download
- Audience profile
The analysis enabled the client to clearly identify the concept with the broadest market potential, as well as those that would add incremental reach among more niche or harder-to-engage groups.
Understanding adoption drivers
Beyond concept testing, the study explored what truly motivates people to download and recommend a health app, and what holds them back.
This included examining:
- The importance of perceived benefit
- Trust and credibility factors
- Ease of use
- Financial considerations
- Incentive and referral mechanics
The findings provided a practical framework for both product design and go-to-market strategy.
Results
The research delivered clear, evidence-based investment guidance.
The client gained:
- A prioritised roadmap for app development
- Clarity on which concept would drive the widest adoption
- Insight into how to attract harder-to-reach non-app users
- A clear understanding of download motivators and barriers
- Strategic guidance on referral and incentive structures
Importantly, the study showed that relying on app development alone would not engage the entire market. Broader awareness and engagement strategies would also be required.
The impact
Armed with nationally representative data, the organisation was able to move forward with confidence; investing in the concept with the strongest overall reach while understanding how additional propositions could expand their footprint further.
The insight not only shaped product prioritisation but also informed positioning, messaging and engagement strategy; ensuring that development decisions were grounded in real consumer behaviour rather than assumption.
In digital health, good ideas are plentiful; but scalable ideas are rarer. This project helped the client understand not just which concept people liked, but which one could genuinely drive adoption at scale. That distinction is critical when you’re investing in innovation.
Ready to launch an app that genuinely resonates?
If you’re developing a new digital product, we can help you understand which proposition has the strongest appeal, who it will engage, and what will drive adoption. Let’s explore how insight can shape a more confident, commercially successful launch.