City of Fort Collins Healthy Homes
Crafting the Simplest Solution for Do-it-Yourself Home Health and Safety Inspections
Healthy Homes is an award-winning free program of the City of Fort Collins, CO aimed at improving the air quality and safety in the homes of city residents by reducing chemical and biological pollutants and identifying safety risks. Volunteer Master Home Educators conduct inspections upon request and provide occupants with information on low cost or no cost solutions to any issues discovered. There was one problem with the Healthy Homes program: it became too successful.
How much success is too much?
Ultimately, the number of requests for home inspections exceeded the City’s ability to provide them. Adding a DIY component to the program was identified as the best solution, and the City reached out to A-Train for help.
When is a mobile app not a mobile app?
The City initially wanted a mobile app that would allow users to conduct their own home inspections. However, that approach came with significant development time and expense. Instead, A-Train proposed a cost-effective, mobile-friendly, web-based tool that has the look, feel and functionality of a mobile app.
Creative solution. Exceptional results.
Ventilation
Mold
Chemical contamination
Cleanliness
Pests
Home maintenance
Safety
Healthy Homes and National, HUD Recognition
The icing on the cake was the City of Fort Collins’ Healthy Homes program being one of four nationwide to receive the 2018 HUD Secretary’s Award for Healthy Homes, and the DIY assessment tool being singled out as one of the primary reasons for the honor. But, the real winners are residents who now have an easy way to perform a fully customized assessment of their home and use the results to make positive health- and safety-related changes. A-Train put a great deal of thought into the user experience and how the tool would function so users don’t have to.
