The breadth of work
A shared mission
Breakwater was fortunate to work with Breastcancer.org, one of the most heavily trafficked breast cancer websites in the world. We share their mission and have been honored to contribute to many feature initiatives, including popular community discussion boards and a fully responsive Ruby on Rails website for desktops, tablets and smartphones. Most recently, we have completely overhauled the system used to deliver personalized content to the members of the Breastcancer.org community.
The personalization upgrade
For women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, this upgrade redefines what it means to engage with a health information website. Unlike most destinations, Breastcancer.org pushes highly relevant content directly to users, rather than relying on them to seek it out.
The process is simple. After users create their account, they’re guided to enter details from their pathology reports and diagnoses. Along with a few other questions, our intelligent algorithm matches them to articles and other information specific to their needs. This information then empowers them to reach out and consult with their doctors on treatments. The Breastcancer.org personalization engine delivers the right information to the right people at the right time.
The personalization engine algorithm
As a user enters details about their condition, our system associates that metadata with their account, in effect learning about their specific circumstances. As Breastcancer.org administrators manage the website, they also add metadata to articles, describing their contents. The personalization engine then matches results to users. For example, if an article is only relevant to people with Stage 1A cancer who are also under the age of 45, this level of detail can be captured and used to truly personalize the user’s experience. When a match is made, content is available immediately.
The experience
Breastcancer.org is the first place to go after diagnosis — users count on the site to help them better understand and prepare for treatment. Through several rounds of user testing, we were able to see directly how important it is for women to have access to information that is customized for their journey.
