Overview
When IBM partnered with Medtronic to create a mobile application to help patients with type 1 diabetes, I immediately wanted to be on the project because of the impact it could have on the user. The project objective was to create an application paired with Medtronic insulin pumps and a continuous glucose monitors. The app connects to the Watson cloud and will provide insights based on an analysis of both information entered by the user and data from the connected devices. The application will be able to track the data and eventually predict a hypoglycemic event within 3 hours.
When IBM partnered with Medtronic to create a mobile application to help patients with type 1 diabetes, I immediately wanted to be on the project because of the impact it could have on the user. The project objective was to create an application paired with Medtronic insulin pumps and a continuous glucose monitors. The app connects to the Watson cloud and will provide insights based on an analysis of both information entered by the user and data from the connected devices. The application will be able to track the data and eventually predict a hypoglycemic event within 3 hours.
Challenge
Three years ago, my daughter Sophia was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She was only three years old then, and this was by far one of the most difficult periods of my life. When I was selected for the project, I had three years of diabetes care under my belt; but understanding that I am only a single user type, I still researched all I could about Medtronic. The team flew to Northridge, CA, and, after talking with the fantastic team there, discovered how Medtronic wanted to differentiate itself with this application by taking the daily life of someone with diabetes into consideration and seeing how the things a user experiences (such as activity, diet, mood, etc.) can impact them.
Once I got home, I began recruiting sponsor users because I didn't want to base the design on a single user (myself). I reached out to the Joslin clinic and interviewed doctors and nurse practitioners. I attended a conference held by the JDRF and spoke to people about what they would want, what type of information they would find valuable, and what type of information they would want to track.
*This product is still in development and this showcases a certain time frame of the project.
Solution
The team and I spent three weeks working to generate an idea. After a while (and some long weekends), we had a concept that we were excited about: an application that could generate insights from Watson in a friendly and absolutely helpful voice. This app also has a social media-like stream showing inputs, insights, live and historical data. The user can take these easily digestible insights and make positive behavior changes.
Diabetes is a very complicated disease. The user has many things to take care of every day due to their condition, and the last thing we wanted to do was add another step. If we were going to add anything to their busy day, we would reward them with valuable insights. The user can enter information about the food they eat – such as how many carbohydrates are in each food item. The carbs can be tracked by time of day, how much activity the user has engaged in, and how their body has reacted to those carbs vs. the insulin administered.
Users can access their live reading like a typical CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor). In the body of the interface, the user can see the stream we developed, which is the principal communication for the user to see what happens with the data they enter. If the user taps into the top Live section, it takes them into an expanded view where they can look through historical data. I was primarily responsible for the design of the graphical display of this quantitative information. This information is important because the user can identify trends over time that can be filtered and sorted as needed.
My Role
The project was a tremendous team effort, and I find myself saying "we" a lot. Specifically, my role was the lead designer on the project. I handled everything from the design's overall look to the information architecture. I worked closely with the Medtronic team to interpret their branding to ensure that this application, while new and refreshing, would look like it's from the Medtronic family.
As mentioned, research was extremely important for the success of this project. Getting to understand other user types was essential. It was important to have playbacks with the clients and developers weekly to ensure everything we were making was feasible. I involved stakeholders and users in playbacks, design reviews, and even a working prototype that we could put in someone's hand.
This project was by far one of the most complicated applications that I've ever worked on. It includes robust functionality and a complicated user flow. We needed to constantly determine the value of each screen and features, and craft the experience around our users unlike ever before. I focused on bridging all of the disparate experiences in the app together cohesively. We made sure the live data is as prominent as the historical data. Time was also a huge factor. After working closely with the client, we quickly transitioned from wireframes to high fidelity mock-ups to ensure accurate feedback and stakeholder buy-in.
*This product is still in development and this showcases a certain time frame of the project.
