Community Wellness Platform
Research to support the development of a fitness/research platform to conduct population science in Los Angeles in collaboration with Cedars-Sinai, Cancer Research Center.
01 · Data
Technical Theme
The platform architecture decision that shaped everything downstream.
Fund a standalone, or bolt onto the city's system?
The first major decision was whether to fund a standalone platform (ShineLA) or integrate with the existing city recreation system via RAP+. Vermont Systems — which LA RAP uses — has no public API. RAP+ compensates by screen-scraping the activities page, updating its database once per day.
The API gap is structural. Stale data meant users could select already-full activities, and the platform would be locked to Vermont Systems forever. The recommendation was clear: build ShineLA standalone with its own backend to connect with any partner via API.
02 · Insight
Data Collection Theme
What the Cedars-Sinai researchers actually needed.
Too many tabs, too many scales
Researchers referenced multiple data points across multiple formats and scales just to make educated guesses. Significant effort was spent tying objective data to real-life events and subjective feelings. For example, to explain a gap in heart rate, a researcher first checked the Battery tab, then cross-referenced with the Steps tab to conclude a device was worn improperly.
We needed automated reminders for participants to charge trackers, wear them properly, and sync data — removing the manual review cycle so researchers could focus on science.
03 · Insight
Los Angelinos UX
Quantification can hurt more than help.
Redesigning motivation
The motivation for physical exercise differs by age group. We discovered that strict quantification is not necessary and can actively demotivate users — seeing '9,999 steps left' is discouraging for many. The universal 10k step goal was a poor benchmark.
A fantastic system will experiment with differently framed motivational statements, using Machine Learning to A/B test what works most effectively for specific demographics.
Play catch with your grandchild
And set them up for life-long health.
Go on a bike ride with them
You will not get covid if you get vaccinated.
Plant a tree in your community
Be active with your neighbors and leave your mark on the city.
Dance with your neighbors
Move together, feel better — there's a class near you.
04 · Action
Corporate Sponsorship Research
Pitching synergy, not just data.
Creating corporate partnerships
To secure multi-million dollar sponsorships, pitches must be finely tailored. We audited the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) pages of major health and lifestyle brands. $15M in sponsorship equates to international-level marketing, meaning the relationship must be mutually beneficial and long-term.
We proposed a pitch deck framework that creates an ally inside the target company, proving how Cedars-Sinai and the sponsor's goals align today. We also recommended targeting less obvious partners, like sportswear brands with newly signed athletes.
05 · Action
Survey Testing & Prototyping
Reducing participant fatigue.
Lower-friction data collection
Researchers emphasized strict data integrity—no reinterpretation even when entries seemed wrong. We user-tested Qualtrics and found that long scrolling pages with dropdown-to-dropdown navigation created high cognitive fatigue for participants. The existing tools were built for researchers, not the people filling them out.
We prototyped a solution that grouped similar questions (like 7-point Likert scales) into sections and displayed all options on-screen at once to reduce context-switching and cognitive load.
06 · Outcome
Project Action Plan
Nine months of research, ordered by MVP objective.
