Chronic diseases affect 20% of the population yet drive 90% of healthcare costsGestational diabetes affects millions of Americans. Its care requires a combination of high touch and transactional interactions.
To provide better health outcomes whilst driving down costs by delivering the majority of healthcare interactions in the home healthcare environment, we developed an app for people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to keep fit by walking regularly with a partner.
At the information gathering phase, I did the literature review, focusing on how to motivate T2D patients to foster behavior change, and compatitive Analysis of two existing products. After that, I interviewed 2 users and posted the survey.
At the analyzing phase, I organized the affinity map with a teamate and extract key insights for the exercise part. After that, I made a persona based on the findings.
At the ideation phase, I generated the concept 1, which was then be combined with the concept 2 to build the final idea.At the final prototyping phase, our group brainstormed the key featues of the product and I built the user flow.Besides, I designed the branding (Avatars) using Cinema 4D and Mavelous Designer.
I had the opportunity to practice the entire design process, from the big blueprint to the details, through this project.
We spent one week reading a lot about chronic disease and type 2 diabetes to build some background knowledge.
Before moving on to the next step, we got a chance to talk to a senior student who did a project about type 1 diabetes. Although there are differences between the type 1 and type 2, the way he conducted the project was insightful. Besides, a product he showed us raised our interest. It is a web-based platform that brings type 1 diabetes patients together to go cycling. Some members only started the exercise after getting diagnosed. Now they love cycling and benefit from it. Therefore, we added questions to the survey and interview on“ Does your exercise habit change after getting diagnosed?” “ How do you choose a sport? ”
Besides, other important questions such as eating and medication treatment are included in the user research based on literature review.
[interview method]
[interview analysis- Affinity Mapping]
[survey method]
[survey analysis]
1. Users need achievable exercise plans
2. Obesity users need tutorials to exercise safely and consistently
3. Moderate competition is good for boosting exercise
4. Accompanying makes it easy for me to stick to exercise
5. Diabetics seek dietary suggestions/ meal plans from different channels
6. Diabetics care about the carbs in dishes, but that info is often unavailablewhen they dine out
7. Users need fast and simple shopping for food and supplies
8. Some people use apps to track what they eat, but when they get too lazy to input the data, the app becomes inaccurate
1. Though exercise habits change for half of the people with diabetes and walking is favored, most people don’t do exercise to manage diabetes
2. People go to supermarket to buy grocery; They feel skeptical about meal plans and sometimes it’s hard to find low carb products with reasonable price
3. People rely on other patients and credible sources for advice
Based on the data collected, we analyzed our users using Empathy Map and Persona.
[empathy map- exercise]
[empathy map- diet]
[Persona 1]
[Persona 2]
We extracted 6 design guidlines from the insights and brainstormed using morphological matrix. Each one of us came up with a concept and presented it with a storyboard.
1. Boost exercise motivation with reasonable plans and competition
2. Encourage personal interactions to build the community
3. Provide credible instructions for diet and fitness
4. Real-time feedback to reinforce habits
5. Effective and easy tracking on body data, meals, and exercises
6. Recommend products catered to people with diabetes
A morphological matrix is a form of random stimulation that can be used solo or in groups to generate ideas based on potential variations in a problem’s characteristics.
[morphological matrix]
We shared our ideas with the mentor and got some feedback. According to the inputs, we had discussions within the group and finally decided to combine the advantages of both idea 1 and 2.
[choose the idea]
Developing good exercising habits needs consistant motivation. A walking partner will help.
Apart from motivation, knowledge and experts’ guidance is what they need to exercise safely.Also, a virual partner provides acompany just like a real friend.
T2D is a big group. People are facing similar problems and sharing the same feelings. WalkingPal brings people together and provides them with a platform to share and learn, or just get accompany.
Embracing a new life by joining in the lively activities. The WalkingPal organizes special exercising events indoors and outdoors. Meet your online partner and more new friends in person.
We recruited 2 users from the “User Interview” platform and conducted the usability test through Zoom. Each of the participant was asked to think aloud with each action he takes. They began with exploring the app freely for 2 minutes. After that, 3 tasks were delivered to them.
[usability test]
A heuristic evaluation is a usability inspection method for computer software that helps to identify usability problems in the user interface (UI) design. It specifically involves evaluators examining the interface and judging its compliance with recognized usability principles (the "heuristics").
How users get points is not explained.Not sure if activity on the banner is different from others.Expect today’s mark being larger than those of other dates.
When clicking on enroll button, it should show enroll message, not the detail page of that event
The post should look clickable.Lacks a place showing all events registered (list view for registered events).
A heuristic evaluation is a usability inspection method for computer software that helps to identify usability problems in the user interface (UI) design. It specifically involves evaluators examining the interface and judging its compliance with recognized usability principles (the "heuristics").
[Iteration - Set Profile]
[Select Walking Partner]
[Select Walking Mode]
[Compete Mode]
[Post]
[Group & Ranking]
[Data Tracking]
The most important thing I learned from my teamates is how to evaluate, test and iterate the product to make it more concrete. I have practiced the skills in my personal project- the smart kitchen.
Reference
Swanson, V., & Maltinsky, W. (2019). Motivational and behaviour change approaches for improving diabetes management. Practical Diabetes, 36(4), 121–125. https://doi.org/10.1002/pdi.2229
Marzouki, R., & Belkahla, W. (2019). The impact of lead users on innovation success. Innovation & Management Review, 17(1), 86–111. https://doi.org/10.1108/inmr-12-2018-0093
The Best Life Guide to Managing Diabetes and Pre-diabetes by Bob Greene, MD; 2009.
What to Expect When You Have Diabetes: 170 Tips for Living Well With Diabetes by the American Diabetes Association Staff; 2008.
Staying Well With Diabetes—A Guide for the Older Adult by Medha Munshi, MD, of the Joslin Diabetes Center; 2006.
Loveman E, Frampton G K, Clegg A J.. Costs and Benefits Associated With Diabetes Education A Review of the Literature. January 1, 2009
Gerber, et al.; Implementation and Evaluation of a Low-Literacy Diabetes Education Computer Multimedia Application. Diabetes Care 1 July 2005; 28 (7): 1574–1580.
Rodrigues, et al. Knowledge and attitude: important components in diabetes education. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem. 2009 Jul-Aug;17(4):468-73. doi: 10.1590/s0104-11692009000400006. PMID: 19820852.
Rickheim et al; Assessment of Group Versus Individual Diabetes Education: A randomized study. Diabetes Care 1 February 2002; 25 (2): 269–274. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.25.2.269
Ghafoor, Erum, et al. “Evaluation of Diabetes Conversation Map™ Education Tools for Diabetes Self-Management Education.” Diabetes Spectrum, vol. 28, no. 4, American Diabetes Association, 2015, pp. 230–35, https://doi.org/10.2337/diaspect.28.4.230.