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LAVI · UX Case Study · Duration: 8 weeks · Role: Certified UX Designer (solo) · Figma VS Code · Section 02 of 12
02: Competitive analysis
No one is solving this problem.
Four existing solutions were evaluated across eight critical dimensions. While each addresses part of the health navigation challenge, none were designed for the linguistic, cultural, and literacy needs of Haitian and Hispanic immigrant communities, leaving a clear and unoccupied market position.
MyChart
Patient portal. Epic Health Systems
Language supportEnglish + Spanish only
Health literacy levelClinical, assumes education
Haitian CreoleNot supported
Cultural relevanceGeneric, institution-focused
Symptom checkerNot available
Medication guidanceClinical labels, not simplified
Doctor finderYes, within Epic network
Free to useRequires hospital account
WebMD
Consumer health information platform
Language supportEnglish only
Health literacy levelClinical, often alarming
Haitian CreoleNot supported
Cultural relevanceU.S.-mainstream focused
Symptom checkerYes, but anxiety-inducing
Medication guidanceYes, clinical language
Doctor finderBasic directory, limited filters
Free to useYes, ad-supported
Zocdoc
Doctor booking and appointment platform
Language supportEnglish + limited Spanish
Health literacy levelModerate, booking focused
Haitian CreoleNot supported
Cultural relevanceNo cultural or insurance filtering
Symptom checkerNot available
Medication guidanceNot available
Doctor finderYes, strongest of all reviewed
Free to useYes, free to patients
Google Search
How most immigrant users currently self-diagnose
Language supportMultilingual via translation
Health literacy levelVaries wildly, unverified
Haitian CreoleAuto-translate only, inaccurate
Cultural relevanceNo cultural context at all
Symptom checkerUnverified, often alarming
Medication guidanceUnverified third-party sources
Doctor finderGoogle Maps only, no filtering
Free to useYes
LAVI
Health literacy app, purpose-built for immigrant communities
Our solution
Language support
English, Spanish, Creole
Health literacy level
Plain language, grade 6
Cultural relevance
Built into every feature
Free to use
Yes, no account needed
Symptom checker
Yes, plain language output
Medication guidance
Scan + simplify + remind
Doctor finder
Language + insurance filter
Haitian Creole
Full native support
Critical market gaps LAVI addresses
Zero tools offer full Haitian Creole support
An estimated 700,000+ Haitian Creole speakers live in the U.S., concentrated in Florida, New York, and Massachusetts. Not one reviewed competitor offers native Creole support. Auto-translation via Google produces medically inaccurate results that can be dangerous in a health context.
Existing symptom checkers cause anxiety, not clarity
WebMD and Google Search return clinical terminology and worst-case diagnoses. User research confirmed this, participants described leaving these tools more frightened than when they started. LAVI's urgency system was specifically designed to de-escalate before it informs.
No platform filters doctors by language and insurance together
Zocdoc has the strongest doctor finder but cannot filter simultaneously for language fluency and Medicaid acceptance, the exact combination our users need. This gap was cited directly in user interviews as a primary reason people give up searching and use emergency rooms instead.
Cultural context is entirely absent across all competitors
None of the four platforms account for cultural attitudes toward medicine, historical distrust of health institutions, or community-specific health risks. LAVI's content, including medication examples, food interactions, and health guides, is written with Haitian and Hispanic cultural context built in.
Market opportunity
LAVI occupies an uncontested position: the only health literacy tool purpose-built for Haitian and Hispanic immigrant communities, combining plain-language symptom checking, culturally adapted medication guidance, and a language-plus-insurance doctor finder, all in three languages including native Haitian Creole.
Target addressable population: 700K+ Haitian Creole speakers + 62M Hispanic Americans with limited English proficiency or cultural barriers to care.