Project Overview

Ava is a conversational AI healthcare assistant integrated into iMessage that helps University of Washington students navigate healthcare services by translating symptoms into structured clinical signals and routing them to the appropriate care destination.

Team Members: Alley Wu, Ani Ramadurai, Katharina Cheng, Mekias Kebede, Sofila Song

Process

Research: Interviewed UW students, validated that 94% use iMessage daily and moderate trust in AI healthcare. Created persona "Alex Chen" - international student unfamiliar with U.S. healthcare.

Design: Built symptom understanding system, care routing logic, and plain-language feedback. User testing revealed responses were too long - pivoted to add interactive elements (buttons/options) and requested features (cost estimation, in-network providers).

Development: Implemented pre-classification system, multi-language translation, and care routing with next steps.

Team Actions

• Collectively chose iMessage platform based on usage data

• Established ethical boundaries: "triage support" not "diagnosis"

• Iteratively tested and refined based on user feedback

• Developed privacy-first approach with minimal data collection

Key Takeaways

• User needs evolve: Started with triage, pivoted to full care navigation

• Ethics require proactive design: Clear language about AI limitations builds trust

• Platform matters: Familiar interfaces (iMessage) reduce adoption friction

• Iteration is essential: User testing drove major improvements in UX

  
  

Next Steps (Spring Quarter)

1. Improve onboarding process and interactive responses

2. Add insurance-based recommendations and cost estimates

3. Generate clinic visit scripts for users

4. Implement conversation encryption for privacy

Long-term: Expand to other universities, integrate with health center scheduling, track impact metrics.

Impact: Addresses healthcare equity for international students and low health-literacy users through accessible, multilingual AI assistance.

Links: Demo Video | Code Repo