MyInsulin
MyInsulin is a user-centered mobile and web app designed to help diabetics effectively track their blood sugar levels and manage medication schedules. The app simplifies the process of monitoring health data, offering timely reminders for medication, and providing valuable insights to maintain stable blood sugar levels. With an intuitive interface and practical features, MyInsulin aims to make diabetes management seamless and stress-free.
PROJECT OVERVIEW:
Project Duration
January 2023 - February 2024
My Role
UX Designer designing an app for MyInsulin from the conception to the delivery.
Responsibilities
Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.
The Problem
Not taking diabetes medications frequently can lead to serious health complications, some of which may require hospitalisation. This increases the risk of potential complications include nerve damage, as well as eye, kidney, or heart disease. We have identified that many people who have diabetes are usually busy and are prone to forget to take their medication and measure their blood sugar levels on a consistent basis.
The Goal
Design an app and (and a scalable tool) that will help people with diabetes track their blood sugar levels and remember to take their medicine on time.
UNDERSTANDING THE USER:
Interviews:
I first conducted a series of interviews as part of my research phase. I conducted interviews with individuals who frequently take diabetes medication and who I know. My main objective in conducting these user interviews was to gain an understanding of users' needs and frustrations when it came to taking their medication on time and monitoring their blood sugar levels.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE QUESTIONS I ASKED:
How often do you take your check your blood sugar levels? Daily? Weekly? Monthly?
How many times a day do you take your medication? (If daily, continue)
Do you take your medication at particular times of the day?
Is the medicine prescribed to you take every month?
Do you always remember to check your blood sugar levels on time?
What difficulties do you encounter that make it difficult for you to remember to take your medication? How does it make you feel?
Do you use any apps/methods to help you remember to take your medicine? Is it efficient? Does it help you remember to check your blood sugar level?
INSIGHTS & INTERVIEW TAKEAWAY:
Most interviewees would rely on memory and not keep track of when they need to take their next dose of medication, or even check their blood sugar levels.
Most interviewees regularly take their medications daily.
Due to a busy lifestyle, interviewees frequently forget to take their blood sugar levels at least three times every week.
3 out of 10 interviewees would note it down on paper or write it down on their notes app on their phones.
4 out of 10 interviewees set an alarm on their phone to notify them when to take medication.
Meet The Users:
Based on my interviews with two different user groups, i developed two different user personas. This will help me empathise with the target users and will also serve as a guide helping me navigate through the design process.
Name: Ahmed
Age: 52
Family: Lives with two children and wife
Occupation: Uber Driver
Problem Statement:
Ahmed is a hard working family man who needs a way to keep tracking his blood sugar levels and keep track of taking his diabetes medication because he wants to enjoy his life with his family preventing any future health complications.
Name: Amy
Age: 38
Family: Lives Alone
Occupation: Teacher
Problem Statement:
Amy is a teacher who loves her job and spending time on her hobbies who needs a way to keep track of her health because it will aid her to continue her passion in teaching as well as being able to continue her driving hobby.
Competitor Research:
I did competitive research on similar applications and found 3 direct competitors (MySugr, Glucose Buddy and Diabetes:M). They are all app based and 2 the of the websites directed the readers to download the app from their respective app stores. Every app has their unique value selling points and each describe the benefits of their features.
The main takeaway from competitive analysis was the process of checking and updating blood sugar levels as well as tracking medication were all long processes. There were too many unnecessary options and some features would overcomplicate these processes, which therefore eliminates equitability. All these reasons may lead to a higher drop off rate and increased user paint points for processes that should be simple to do.
MySugr
Glucose Buddy
Competitive Analysis Findings:
Diabetes:M
The process of adding/updating new medicine is very long because of how much details they need to input about the medicine
Most of the competitors do not have a strong and compelling visual brand identity
1 out of 3 competitors allows users to check their blood sugar levels
0 competitors showed any features for users’ accessibility needs
The Target Audience:
Busy adults aged 30
Adults who need to consistently track blood sugar levels and access their medication reminders
Reside in an urban area
Adults who need a simplified tool to give them reminders to track their medication and B
Those who are dependent on medication in order to keep on top of their health and regularly track blood sugar levels.
Ideation:
I conducted a brief ideation exercise called ‘Crazy Eights’ to generate ideas on how to address shortcomings found in the competitive audit. My primary focus was on the method of tracking medication intake, notifying the patient about the time to take their medication and enabling users to track their blood sugar levels.
STARTING THE DESIGN PROCESS:
Digital Wireframes
The goal was to make sure from the homepage the user had all the important information provided on one page without needing to navigate. From user feedback, users would of also liked a visual element to see how their blood sugar levels are doing.
I took it upon myself to provide a visual representation of the blood sugar levels in graph form to show the user how they’re doing.
Adding medication with ease was a key user need as it would help them keep on top of their medication and make sure they keep taking it on time.
A constant reminder is something that users deemed very useful. Users are all busy with their lives and a constant reminder is needed to make sure users stay on top of their blood sugar levels and medication.
Low-Fidelity Prototype:
The low fidelity prototype connected the primary user flow of updating blood sugar levels and adding new medication.
Usability Study:
Study type: Unmoderated usability study
Location: London, Remote
Participant: 5 participants
Length: 20-30 minutes
Here are the main themes uncovered from my usability studies:
Findings:
Check off medication that has been taken
Users voiced their opinion on how they’re not able to check off the medication they’ve taken already to highlight medication that’s been taken.
Make add meds user flow better
Users want a quick and easier way of adding their medication, so need a scanning feature which allows people to scan their medicine and quickens the process.
Users wanted a way to communicate with a doctor in order to receive relevant advice based on diet, medication etc.
Chat to a Doctor
REFINING THE DESIGN:
Mockups:
The homepage is arguably the most important page on the app because it’s the first point of contact the user has with app and so that page needs to have all the important info / features. In the usability study, users expressed how they wanted to have the ability to chat to professional doctors regarding any questions about diabetes related. As a result of this, i added a chat feature to allow users to get professional tips about diabetes.
During the usability study some participants highlighted the need to be able to visibly tell whether the meds have been taken or not. An accessible need that would aim to help the elderly and busy adults remember to take their medication. In light of this, i opted to add a check box to allow users to update when they’ve had their medication. Additionally, a bell icon was also added to highlight that the user will receive a notification when it is time to take the medication.
The participants expressed how the process of adding new medication had an inconsistent user flow and was viewed longer than necessary. This is largely due to the information is scattered on different pages. To fix this issue, the user flow was completely changed and innovated to support even people with disabilities. The user flow will now start off with accessing the camera and allow the user to scan the medication instead of searching for it manually. In addition to this a manual option is provided as an alternative. The process is thus much shorter and much more fluid and takes into account accessible needs of users too.
High-Fidelity Prototype:
The final high-fidelity prototype presented a better user flow for users, a more consistent and equitable design.
THE FINAL DESIGN:
RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN:
Sitemap:
After finishing the app design, I began the process of designing a responsive web app. I chose to use a dashboard, which enables users to log in, update their blood sugar levels, track their medications, and obtain a general overview of their daily medication. I used the site map to guide the organisational structure of each screen’s design to ensure a cohesive and consistent experience across devices. The web app emulates a similar look and feel to the mobile app.
Responsive Designs:
The design for a variation of screen sizes included desktop, tablet and phone. I tailored the designs to each device and screen sizes unique user requirements.
TAKEAWAYS:
Impact:
Users felt that their need have been met and their pain points have been addressed. The incorporation of a quicker user flow for adding medicine, an alarm to alert users of what medicine needs to be taken and the ability to monitor their blood sugar levels. This will all aid in the betterment of the users health and allow to keep track of it.
One quote for peer feedback:
“Having a reminder alert is really good, it will help me to stop forgetting to take my medication”
What I Learned:
I have learned a myriad of things in this project, but what stands out to me is, always keeping the user’s needs at the forefront when designing and making sure each feature involved meets solves a user pain point. I started off with a basic structure in mind which ultimately focused on the user tracking their medication and blood sugar levels, but through research, there will always be improvements that can be made to improve the user experience.
THE NEXT STEPS:
Conduct research more on how successful the app is post launch gathering data on how successful was the app with helping users keep track of their medication and blood sugar levels.
Add a personalised health feature enabling users to track their mood.
Look into making voice assistant feature to make the app more equitable and seeing how users interact with the prototype.