Neuropathy Patient Assistant
My Role
- Led the Journey Map design, concept sketching and storyboarding based on research from Novo Nordisk
- Conducted paper protoyping exercises and led the experience design and mock-up creation on Figma
- Conducted user testing on the final MVP
Resources
- Duration: Jan 2022 - Jun 2022
- Ramya Bhagirathi, Kushagra Bhatia, AJ Chau and Chris Phan
- 1 designer, 3 developers. This project was sponsored by Novo Nordisk
Your 70 year old grandpa is gardening and suddenly he feels shooting pain in his limbs. You rush to help but you have no idea how to relieve this pain. You deal with his mood swings when you visit but wonder how he gets by all alone.
You realize its his diabetes that is causing a variety of his mental and physical health problems.
You see a need for an assistant but your grandpa likes to be independent and its hard on the pockets.
That's where our app: Neuro-Buddy can come in. This app helps diabetic and neuropathy patients manage with their condition through features such as a mood board, gamified pain relief, and a blood sugar journal.
Design Process
Research
What is Diabetic Neuropathy?
Diabetic Neuropathy is a type of nerve damage that can occur if an individual has diabetes. High blood sugar injures nerves throughout the body, especially the limbs. Patients experience limitations such as:
Pain & numbness in limbs
Increased sensitivity to touch
Drastic mood & behavior change
Hypoglycemia unawareness
We had no experience in the medical domain, hence we began by understanding the cause and effect of diabetes and neuropathy. We used qualitative analysis of the different types of diabetes, the patient's experience before and after diagnosis, the typical line of treatment and the patient's acceptance of the condition.
Key Research Findings
01
Psychological impact
Diabetic Neuropathy affects the patients not just physically but also psychologically.
02
Patients need help
They require support in managing the additional responsibility of neuropathy along with diabetes.
03
Patients need help
The journey to diabetes begins from noticing symptoms, to the process of diagnosis and treatment.
04
Need to be independent
Patients wish to be independent & not constantly require support to manage their condition.
05
Life with diabetes/neuropathy
Living with diabetes can cause a financial burden, emotional toil, and decision paralysis in patients.
User Personas and Storyboarding
Storyboarding helped us remove internal bias and visualize scenarios where our product would come to use. Based on the personas provided to us by Novo Nordisk, we were able to recreate user behavior, empathize with them and possible benefits.
Click/tap to enlarge storyboards
Design
Methods used: Crazy 8's, User Journey Mapping, Paper Prototyping, Concept Sketching
Ideation
Using crazy 8's we focused on creating a large number of ideas and then narrowed down solutions based on quality and feasibility. We produced ideas on features a patient would most want to have based on patient research we previously conducted and their stage in navigating each phase of their diabetes.
User Journey Map
Results from our preliminary paper prototype testing showed us the need to document specific Action and Thoughts to scrutinize the Needs and Pain areas of patients. At each instance of the product journey, beginning from Product Discovery to Onboarding and First Use and Continued Usage of the App we mapped the user’s emotions.
Concept Sketch
Our Design Priorities
01
Consistency
Using well-known icons, standard text styles, and uniform terminology to incorporate features and behaviors people expect.
02
User Control
Keeping interactive elements familiar and predictable, confirming destructive actions, and making it easy to cancel operations, even when they’re already underway.
03
Feedback
Immediate acknowledgment of the actions they perform with minimalist interactive elements
04
Aesthetic UI
A minimalistic color palette, with unobtrusive and subtle graphics to avoid confusing the user.
High Fidelity Prototype
Limitations
- Safety concerns, such as incorrect treatment recommendations from faulty user data, are addressed by requiring approval from the user's healthcare provider for major treatment steps.
- The Neuro Sense feature within the app helps the patient alleviate pain in their hands and feet is not considered as a permanent treatment plan for neuropathy.
- Our product ensures adherence to HIPAA and FERPA guidelines since there is potential input of patient data such as medications, their weight, blood sugar levels, etc. which will be confidential.
Concept Video
Improvements
Going the Extra Mile
I took the time to revamp the product especially in the visual aspects. I learned about creating a design system through my experience and this helped me understand and solve the problem at hand.
Would You Like to see more?
MVP Ideation • Experience Design • Social Media
UX Design • Prototyping • B2B SaaS • Design System • Product Requirement Analysis
.png){kind=small}