Review Date : 5th June, 2016.
Aesthetics: 4 on 5
Home Page
The site's design is simple and efficient. The home page has a big search box and quick links below the box. Type whatever you're looking for and it'll quickly list auto-suggestions. The auto-suggest is actually quite smooth and quick.
Results Page
The results page is quite helpful - with information like:
- qualification,
- experience,
- rating,
- user feedback link,
- consultation price,
- timings,
- location
- appointment number (looks like a number allocated to the enlisted doctor/establishment by Practo itself - that way they can track how many people booked an appointment directly because of Practo).
Transparent Algorithm
The folks at Practo clearly take pride in their work. On the search results page, they link to an explanation of how the Practo Relevance Algorithm works!
Interesting find - The fact that they really care about the user shows in the fact that the user's feedback and appointment experience (including waiting time) are also considered when ranking the practitioner!
Photographs
The photographs (of practitioners & business establishments) are the only let-down. They're almost unpleasant! I mean, what is the purpose of a photograph of the black couch in the waiting room? Or a (rather amateurishly taken) photograph of the flex banner advertising the establishment's services provided?
Granted these pics are probably uploaded by the establishment owners themselves, but it's not asking for a lot to expect trained Practo staff to take some photographs when they go to enlist the establishment.
Navigation: 5 on 5
Home Page
Practo's home page makes it clear that they are a search engine and not selling you anything else. The home page is really uncluttered - a lot like Google.
Either you search for a specific service/specialist/doctor, or you browse through the bunch of quick links. There's not even a "menu"! Just type what you're looking for and select from their listed practitioners.
Search Results
At first it irked me that I have to choose a search topic from the auto-suggest list. For example, if I typed "Eye" and clicked on the Search button, I expected a Google-type behavior where it listed everything related to eye - doctors, clinics, surgeries etc.
Practo is different here in the way that it doesn't let me search for any word I typed in the box. It will only let me choose from the auto-suggest list. So I have to select one of the suggestions like:
- Eye Surgeon (Specialty)
- Eye Clinics (Specialty Clinic)
- Eye Hospital (Multy-Specialty Hospitals)
- Then it goes on to list business establishments with the word "Eye" in it.
After getting used to this feature (sorry Google!) I realized that this is actually making the site work faster - both to load and to navigate.
It sort of makes me like Practo in the sense that they're not promising to be a know-it-all in the medical/health & lifestyle space. They're putting out a good vibe that they're building their services slowly, but steadily.
There is basically no transaction happening here. Practo will either give you a phone number you can call to book an appointment, or let you book an appointment online right there on the site.
If the practitioner has chosen to accept appointments online, there will be a "Book Appointment" button, Clicking this will show you the available time slots. Just select one timeslot, give your name/number and you're done!
There does seem to be an issue here regarding the consultation fees. When viewing the profile of a doctor I visited recently, I noticed that it mentioned the fee to be Rs.100/-. I know for a fact that when you actually go to the hospital, you're asked to pay Rs.500/- as consultation fees. So, that's a big issue there.
Social & Support: 2 on 5
Practo is very active in the social media space. They have excellent content being created & shared (creative & funny), and they're quite interactive in the comments etc.
It's good to feel that there are humans at the other end.
There is no phone number listed for a user to call in case of urgent queries or emergencies. If you're are in the health space, I expect to be able to talk to a live person to clarify any doubts or to quickly ask the price/availability of a scan that I need to do right away. Practo loses some points on my chart for this.
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