Patchie, fun therapy app - Germany and Switzerland join forces in cystic fibrosis fight

Impressive fundraising haul and collaboration

The story began with Fabio Monte from QoQa, who launched a campaign to raise (via QoQa) funds for Fondation Respirer to develop an application specifically for children suffering from cystic fibrosis. In total, CHF 70,000 was raised.

Having worked successfully together on several projects in the past, QoQa asked Liip if it would be willing to share its leading-edge technical expertise.

For Thierry Krummenacher and Thomas Botton, Product Owners at Liip, the answer was a no-brainer. They brought developer Noé Froidevaux on board, and the small team immediately got down to work. The equivalent of CHF 30,000 was invested in the project preparation phase. Thanks to excellent detective work, the team discovered that a team in Germany had already developed a prototype app called ‘Patchie'. 

“It was clear to us from the start that collaboration would massively improve our chances of achieving our goals. Our contact with the German team, who shared our motivations, left us feeling really positive” explains Thierry Krummenacher. 

Patchie – the friendly green monster 

Serving a very clear purpose

The Patchie app developed by the German team works in a similar way to a Tamagotchi and is intended for children. Patchie is in fact a cuddly green monster who teaches children (aged 6-11) with cystic fibrosis understand and manage the constraints that their illness places on their everyday life.

The parent-part of the app will be developed by Liip. Here, parents can record their child's treatment plan, which then syncs directly with the children-app. Then Patchie the cuddly monster, encourages and helps the child throughout the treatment process.

“Our aim is to create an app that satisfies both the needs of the child and those of his parents. Its fun, game-like design helps the child understand why he needs to stick to their treatment plan, while the data entered by the parents ensures the all-important monitoring of the treatment outcomes”, adds Botton.

The next steps

The members of the full Patchie team are: QoQa, Fondation Respirer, Ratio, the German agency Birds and Trees, and Liip.

The Liip team is currently working on the development timetable so that version 1 of the new Patchie app will be ready to launch by June 2016.

An explanatory video about Patchie (in German).

Part of the team Patchie: