Placing workplace wellbeing at the heart of productivity and innovation
Better lives fuel better business - a principle that guides how we work at Big Lemon. It’s also what drew us to the Appally team, who are building the UK’s first workplace accessibility app. We were keen to collaborate, bringing our values of human-led, considered development, co-design and inclusivity to a project centred on neuro-inclusive experiences.
Good tech begins with straight-talking humans
When we first met the Appally team, they’d been burnt by developers and came to us hoping for a few quick fixes so they could move towards launching their workplace accessibility app. We listened to their vision and shared a few options, including pointing to the benefits of rebuilding from scratch for a sustainable, future-proofed product.
The Appaly team responded well to our transparency and commissioned us initially to work on the fixes. Yet when we came together to discuss progress, we realised that we all had reservations about the direction of travel. We collectively agreed that to move forward, we would need to step back and rebuild some of the core components. The Appally team also decided they needed fresh branding.
Working towards deeper, nuanced and more sustainable design
We really appreciated how involved the Appally team were during development. Lillie, the co-founder and a neurodiversity advocate, had a clear vision for the designs. And we focused on the intricacies behind the build, working closely with Appally’s Ed, a technical advisor.
The app is built around a lengthy assessment and tailored recommendations that help individuals advocate for, and employers build, a more inclusive working environment. Recommendations vary widely in type, ranging from adjustment recommendations to product recommendations, services support networks to self-support. The potential for so many pathways meant Ed and Big Lemon’s Owen had to take a real deep dive into ringfencing user journeys as well as enabling access through the tech.
Our fresh discovery process identified updates that would set up Appally for easier future development. This included migrating from JavaScript to TypeScript, which made the whole app type-safe and better integrated with the source data. We also refactored all existing code.
Once through the initial round of developments, the team tested with a closed user group and shared an initial round of iterations with the Big Lemon team. We welcomed the requests for gentler prompting and softer UX - in our experience, this inclusive approach always leads to better engagement.
From prototype to real work impact
It didn’t take long for Appally to get noticed in the startup marketplace. The Appally team applied and were quickly accepted onto the Bethnal Green Ventures (BGV) programme - a huge accolade. They’re now building the business case with help from the BGV team, and the app is live in beta with over 150 users already benefitting from its recommendations.
As for us here at Big Lemon, we are proud that our strong advocacy for co-design, inclusivity and considered, sustainable development meant that we were well-positioned to work with the Appally team in the inclusivity space, and add value while learning lots along the way.
Work on the next round of iterations is already underway, including new features for employers and a training module. And we’re particularly excited about going live with the feedback loop feature, which allows users to review their recommendations and receive an updated list.
User Feedback
I usually find it difficult to navigate websites and apps, but with Appally, this was no problem at all.
Very neat, and slick
I kept thinking through the assessment, "why don't we have something like this already?"
