Dropper
A Type 1 diabetes management app
Goal
Create a technological intervention that helps patients manage a chronic health condition.
The intervention must correspond with a futuristic patch or monitoring device that the person must wear on their body.
Specifically, I focused on individuals with Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetics represent about 10% of diabetes patients, where their bodies cannot naturally produce insulin. Paired with a blood glucose monitoring system and an insulin pump, which are worn on the body, a logbook app was created to help Type 1 diabetics monitor how environment, food, and exercise affects their health.
Key Skills
Systems Design, UX Design, Visual Design
Team
Solo
Course Advisor
Hugh Dubberly (Systems)
Project Length
4 weeks
Tools
Sketch, Keynote, Illustrator
Systems Mapping
A user journey map, user network map, feedback loop diagram, product ecology map, and application conceptual map defined features for the app.
Starting this project, I did an in-depth interview with a Type 1 Diabetic, "Issac", who has been living with his condition since the age of 10. Using the information from his perspective and online research of other situations, I compiled together a series of systems diagrams that depict how the device and app can help Issac.
Wireframes
The biggest opportunity was to help Type 1 diabetics track how food and exercise would affect their blood glucose and insulin levels.
During ideation, I focused on building out the key screens that would be needed for the app. I created a series of wireframes that would determine the functionality and appearance of the app.
Final Concept
The final concept focused on synchronizing data and information from a diabetic's insulin pump, blood glucose meter, and exercise trackers.
The information that a diabetic needs to manage his chronic condition will be tracked in the app and can be accessed by his healthcare provider. In a life or death situation, where his blood glucose level is extremely low, a notification will be sent to his caretaker. The app uses a points system to encourage the diabetic to track his health habits.
Home
The Home screen informs the diabetic patient with a real time summary of all of his relevant health stats.
Additionally, a customizable avatar on the top of the home screen informs the user of their current blood glucose level and feeling relative to BG range (e.g. if Dropper is sad, blood glucose level is not in a healthy range).
Checking In
Users can log their eating patterns, exercise habits, and emotions to receive points for each check-in.
Automatic data entries will be pulled in from their blood glucose meter for the blood glucose level, image recognition technology will pull in data for food carb counts, exercise trackers will pull in data on the time spent working out, and the insulin pump will pull in data on the number of units injected.
Points System
Points received from check-ins can be redeemed for customizable goodies for the avatar on the home screen.
Manually logging information isn't fun, but by adding in a points system, the idea is to incentivize users to encourage positive behaviors. Users can see their accumulated points in their personal logbook.
Data Logs and Trends
Users can see short-term and long-term effects of their eating habits and exercise habits on their body's insulin and blood glucose levels.
Viewing the log entries will help users make adjustments to their behaviors. Additionally, the trend views on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis provides information that traditionally only doctors could calculate. More information helps users make better informed choices for their body over time.
Life Saving Notifications
App notifications inform the user and caretakers of changes to equipment and serious health warnings.
Alerts to caregivers are crucial when the diabetic is becoming hypoglycemic as in certain situations, they cannot wake themselves or muster the energy to get an injection or food. Insulin adjustment calculations are also important to notify the patient on to prevent potential insulin overdoses that can cause serious health implications.
