Thuisarts: Trusted Medical Advice Always Within Reach Through a High-Performance Minimum Lovable Product

From website to daily tool

“Have You Checked Thuisarts?”

It is a question many patients hear from their general practitioner. For years, Thuisarts has been one of the most trusted sources of medical information in the Netherlands. To make access to that information even easier and more convenient, NHG decided to develop a dedicated mobile app.

NHG launched a Request for Information (RFI) to find a partner that could do more than build an application. They were looking for a team that could also think strategically about the role of mobile technology within the patient journey. Dawn Technology was introduced through a recommendation and quickly became involved.

The challenge was clear:
How do we make trusted medical information more accessible while reducing dependency on search engines?

Several key principles guided the project:

• Information must be easy to find and save
• The application must work offline
• Accessibility must meet the highest standards
• User privacy must be fully protected

The goal was not to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), but a Minimum Lovable Product (MLP): an application that users actively prefer over accessing information through a browser.

Natively built for speed and accessibility

We deliberately chose a fully native approach for both iOS and Android. Rather than using a hybrid framework, we opted for complete control over performance and user experience while implementing an efficient development strategy that avoided unnecessary duplication of effort and cost.

Accessibility by Design

Accessibility was a core requirement throughout the project. By integrating deeply with platform-specific functionality, we were able to fully leverage native accessibility features such as text-to-speech, screen readers and other assistive technologies. 

As a result, the application remains highly usable for people with visual impairments as well as users with limited digital skills.

Collaborative Design Process

Thuisarts provided its own designer, and together we translated the visual identity of the platform into experiences that felt native to both Apple and Google ecosystems.

Strict adherence to platform guidelines ensured that the application aligns with user expectations on iOS and Android, creating an experience that feels immediately familiar and intuitive.

Lightweight and Scalable Architecture

The Thuisarts application was intentionally designed to be exceptionally lightweight, occupying only 8 MB of storage space.

This was achieved through a Backend-for-Frontend (BFF) architecture.

Behind the scenes, the application is built from reusable components while content processing and business logic are handled in the backend.

This approach provides several advantages:

• Fast and lightweight performance
• Real-time content optimisation
• The ability to update content and functionality without requiring app store releases

From Browser Search to Direct Access

Previously, many users reached Thuisarts through Google searches.

The app now provides direct access to trusted medical information without requiring a search engine. Through deep linking, users can be directed straight to relevant content within the app, even when arriving from external sources.

Users can also save pages for future reference, making important information easy to revisit whenever needed. In addition, offline functionality ensures that saved content remains available even without an internet connection.

Privacy by Design

Privacy is critical within healthcare. For that reason, we deliberately avoided standard tracking tools such as Google Analytics.

Instead, Thuisarts uses Matomo, a privacy-friendly analytics platform that keeps user data fully under NHG’s control and outside the reach of major technology companies.

This approach ensures compliance with strict privacy requirements while still providing valuable insights into platform usage.