Bloodline Labs - because we know you care
Co-founder and Creative Head, June 2012 - May 2014
(Product Development, Social Design, Mobile App Development, Web Design, User Experience Research)
Other Co-founders - Vasant Sridhar, Ashwin Krishnamoorthy, Sheeba Rajagopalan, Siddharth Swaminathan
The Challenge
According to a WHO report in 2012, there was a shortage of 3 million units of blood in India that year, which amounted to 25% of the total required amount of 12 million units. In a country like India, with a population of 1.3 billion, this is a major healthcare crisis, which we as a group of 5 students, worked to address. I led the creative team in building a user centered product that addressed a critical healthcare issue in India. Bloodline has received recognition at the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) Social Innovation Challenge 2013, the Stanford E-Bootcamp '13 and was given the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award 2013, conducted by All India Institute for Medical Studies, Delhi and Oklahoma State University, USA. It has also been featured on various media platforms like Wired (UK), Times of India, The Hindu, YourStory and Startup Central.
The Research
We conducted a thorough qualitative and quantitative analysis of the situation by speaking to patients, doctors, healthcare institutes and blood donors. Some of the key pain points we observed were:
Blood, once donated, can be stored only for a period of 42 days, hence, several times blood goes wasted and is thrown away. Hence, while blood donation camps are successful in collecting a lot of blood, much of it is wasted because they cannot be stored for too long.
The current system in place to contact potential blood donors happens either through blood donation drives, or through messages and phone calls placed by the hospital and relatives of the patient, to potential donors, from a list of past donors that they maintain. Blood donors can only donate once in a minimum of 56 days (8 weeks). Many a times, when somebody receives a message for a blood requirement, they may have just recently donated blood within the past few weeks.
While the hospitals reach out to past donors, they don't always live close to the hospital in case of any emergencies, hence it is not the most effective way to get donors quickly.
The Idea
Based on our research and the findings, we wanted to bridge the communication gap between the blood donors, hospitals and patients. Bloodline is a mobile and web based platform, that links the blood donors with those in need of blood. Since it conception, it has over 25,000 registered users and has successfully made over 300 connections.
Bloodline was designed to streamline the connection between blood donors, patients and hospitals. One can register themselves as a donor, with their blood type, age, location and update their last donated date. They can also integrate their social media profiles to the application, so they can be reached easily. Unlike conventional means of contacting people, Bloodline would only contact them if they are within a specified location perimeter and if they have not donated in the last 56 days. Once they receive a request, they can immediately either accept or decline the request and also share their activity on their social media platforms.
To find a donor, one can register on the Bloodline platform and give the required details of blood type, number of units and location. Based on the given data, the request will be sent to the registered users who come within the location perimeter and eligible to donate at that moment. Donors will be reached out through social media platforms, which will enable them to share the request to their friends and family, in case they are unable to donate themselves.
Our goal was to eliminate inefficiencies in the system. After all, what's more important than life itself? Our focus was on making the whole process of blood management smarter and more efficient. Bloodline is the product of Juventas Blood Pvt. Ltd., based out of Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
