Revolutionizing Breastfeeding with Mobile Apps and Wearable Technology

Elvie Pump is the world's first wireless, wearable breast pump created by an award-winning FemTech company. We helped Elvie develop native mobile applications to transform the breastfeeding experience.

The company and product

Elvie is a pioneering British FemTech company with a mission to improve women’s lives through smarter technology. One of its flagship products is an award-winning Elvie Pump–the world’s first wireless, wearable, silent, and smart breast pump.

The company focuses on reimagining products for pelvic floor health and breast pumping. Since 2013, Elvie has grown to over 200 employees and earned multiple industry recognitions and awards. In 2019, they raised a $42 million Series B round—the largest ever for a female-led FemTech company.

We worked with Elvie on the Elvie Pump which transformed the breastfeeding experience by offering mothers freedom, discretion, and real-time control. In its debut year, the Elvie Pump received awards from Dezeen, Absolute Mama, and BabyTech. It remains one of the highest-rated and best-selling breast pumps on the market.

Client’s feedback

Scope and Highlights

years of collaboration

Months of Development

TEAM MEMBERS INVOLVED

native Mobile applications

20+

industry awards

$136M

funding raised

The Challenge

Following the successful debut of the first silent breast pump in London, the company decided to expand into other markets. They needed native mobile applications that could seamlessly integrate with the Elvie Pump hardware.

Our goal was to develop native mobile apps for both iOS & Android platforms that monitor milk volume in real-time, track pumping history for each breast and control the pump remotely.

The primary challenge was to enable real-time remote control and monitoring of two pumps simultaneously via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), ensuring data from multiple sessions could be synchronized into a single and achieving coherent user experience. Besides, we needed to create a pump simulator app, representing all services and characteristics of the BLE interface.

Key challenges

Developing native mobile apps for iOS & Android platforms.

Preparing software and collaborating with the client's hardware team.

Synchronizing data to merge it from different sessions (and different pumps) into a 1 session model.

Developing native mobile apps for iOS & Android platforms.

Preparing software and collaborating with the client's hardware team.

Synchronizing data to merge it from different sessions (and different pumps) into a 1 session model.

The Process

Throughout the process, we closely cooperated with the Elvie's hardware team to ensure simultaneous development of both software and hardware components.

Our technical implementation included native BLE development for iOS and integration of Polidea's Bluetooth library for Android, while continuously supporting the Elvie team in product design and user experience decisions.

To streamline the design validation process, we developed an automated screenshot generation system that created comprehensive visual documentation for every app module across all supported languages.

A sophisticated data synchronization system seamlessly merged information from two separate Elvie Pumps into a single, coherent session model. We also ensured strict adherence to data security and regulatory compliance, including FDA and MDR requirements. The entire user experience was carefully crafted from app download through daily usage.

This is how we made it happen:

Creating a comprehensive abstraction layer that standardized device communication regardless of the underlying hardware variations.
Developing a user journey with exceptional onboarding experiences, covering everything from pump usage and comfortable wearing techniques to proper cleaning procedures.
Enhancing the project's quality assurance by implementing end-to-end regression testing using real iOS and Android devices connected to the pump hardware.

Elvie Pump Application

The Outcome

With a safe and functional native mobile apps for iOS and Android, Elvie Pump revolutionized nursing worldwide. Breastfeeding can now take place everywhere, at any time.

Elvie received native mobile applictions that work seamlessly with both Elvie Pump and Elvie Stride devices. Each application synchronizes with various pump types using different BLE APIs while providing consistent functionalities.

By aligning technology with real-world needs, we successfully addressed a widespread problem affecting all breastfeeding women. Elvie's success was built on matching the product to its market with well-thought-out features and a user-friendly design.

The product won multiple prestigious awards in its launch year, including the Dezeen Awards, Absolute Mama Awards, and BabyTech Awards, and continues to be one of the highest-rated products in its category. Industry recognition extended beyond launch with more than 20 notable awards.

The success of this project hinged on the following factors:

Delivering a practical, and fast native mobile application tailored to specific users’ needs.
Ensuring strict adherence to data security requirements and official regulations.
Providing an outstanding and user-friendly design and the entire user experience.