User Experience of a Canadian Web Application for On-Demand Preventive Health Care: Cross-Sectional Online Survey Study

BACKGROUND: Amid the current primary care crisis, Canadians are increasingly turning to online resources, where misinformation is common. Launched in 2023, the web application Icanbewell provides free, reliable, evidence-based information on preventive health care. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the user experience of the Icanbewell web application. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey in Canada. Participants were members of the public aged at least 18 years and health care providers residing in Canada who had internet access. A 9-item online survey was made available within the Icanbewell web application from July 8, 2024, to August 7, 2025. It invited users to rate their satisfaction with the app, suggest improvements, and describe what they learned from it. The single Likert-scale question was analyzed using summary descriptive statistics, and the short-answer questions were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Of the 69 users who responded to the Icanbewell survey, 80% (n=55) were satisfied with the app, 9% (n=6) were dissatisfied, and 10% (n=7) were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. Satisfaction ranged from 78.9% to 90.9% across participant gender, status as a health care provider or member of the public, language, and whether the respondent was attached to a primary care provider. A total of 46 (67%) respondents provided suggestions to improve the Icanbewell web application by optimizing the interface and adding medical content beyond prevention. Finally, 42% (29/69) of respondents indicated that they learned new information from using the Icanbewell app, including details about Canadian prevention guidelines, how to access various health resources, and general medical information on health and symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated user satisfaction and engagement with the app. Subsequent work should prioritize representative sampling to gather feedback from individuals not attached to a primary care provider, younger people, health care providers, and people in geographically diverse locations. Our results highlight an ongoing need for accessible, trustworthy, evidence-based prevention resources, along with support for clinicians in disseminating them to the public. Future involvement of patient partners in the design and evaluation of the web application will be important to ensure its inclusivity and relevance.