T1Trackr
Overview
T1Trackr is an iOS application created for parents and caregivers of Type 1 diabetics. It allows users to see when high or low blood glucose levels have been acknowledged and treated by someone else.
Objectives:
Design and launch new iOS app
Key Results:
- 1.Conduct qualitative and quantitative research to build hypothesis
- 2.Translate key findings into insights and ideate on potential solutions
- 3.Gather feedback from community to validate and expand concepts
- 4.Produce a prototype to solicit further feedback from users for MVP
Constraints
- •80 hours to complete this project
- •Technical constraints - any data linked to the app must be accessible from current CGM/insulin pump share platforms
- •HIPPA compliance
Role
- UX Researcher
- UX/UI Designer
Timeline
- 80+ hours
Tools
- Figma
- FigJam
- Adobe Illustrator
- Dovetail
Notes
- This was an assignment for DesignLab’s UX Academy
Challenge.
Create better communication between parents and alternate caregivers of Type 1 Diabetics
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease that occurs when a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, the hormone that controls blood-sugar levels. Approximately 1.6 million Americans are living with T1D, this includes almost 200,000 children.
Approximately 187,000 people under the age of 20 have Type 1 Diabetes.
Managing Type 1 Diabetes isn’t easy. High blood sugar is bad; really low blood sugar can be life-threatening.
With daily blood sugar fluctuations and insulin dosing, it can feel like riding a rollercoaster - especially for caregivers of young T1Ds. Throw in school, sports and multiple people making the 200+ healthcare decisions every day and it gets complicated — fast.
As the mom of a type 1 diabetic, this project was something I was passionate about but also an area where I had a lot of assumptions and biases.
As the mom of a type 1 diabetic, this project was something I was passionate about but also an area where I had a lot of assumptions and biases.
I struggle to know what’s happening with my son’s care when he’s not with me. There is often a huge disconnect in communication when someone else is watching him - the school nurse, a co-parent, or babysitter.
I assumed other parents struggled with the same situation but I needed to validate that it was an actual problem.
Discovery.
Is there a real problem to solve?
I knew the daily struggles I faced as the parent of a diabetic child but was there a bigger problem to be addressed? Was it prevalent enough to build an app?
I used both qualitative and quantitative data to uncover what problems existed for others.
20+
Research Articles
Reviewed
4
User Interviews
Conducted
5
Similar Apps
Compared
User interviews were invaluable because they allowed me to hear the difficulties families face as they manage their child’s blood glucose and the emotion connected to it, giving me deeper insight into why this situation is so frustrating to them.
Since this project was based on a hypothesis, I chose to do my competitive analysis and desk research after my user interviews. This allowed me to focus my secondary research on my interview findings. Although there were no direct competitors, it helped me identify features that could be beneficial and shortfalls to avoid.
Several themes kept popping up:
Parents don’t have enough information about their child’s diabetes management
Similar apps do not share care decisions between users
A lack of communication between caregivers results in stress & concern
Process.
Don’t Jump Into Ideation
Having so much familiarity with the problem space, it required a lot of effort to step back and look at the problem objectively so I created a user persona to help me look at the situation based on my research instead of my personal experiences.
Problems to solve.
My research led me to 3 specific problems to solve. I used a Point-of-View Statement and How-Might-We because it helped me compartmentalize each problem and brainstorm possible solutions for each using my persona as a guide.
Once I had some possible solutions, I looked at which would solve all 3 problems. I love a prioritization matrix because it helps me rationalize what is important, technically feasible and why.
Design.
Thinking Out Loud On paper
The perfectionist part of me hates sharing quick sketches because they’re messy and far from perfect. I’m trying to learn to appreciate the process and not overthink it. That’s going great (note sarcasm).
The pros: working in low-fidelity meant I was able to learn as I was designing, iterate quickly and try different options.
My initial idea was to have different designs for the parent and alternate caregiver but I discovered flaws in that approach as I sketched them and pivoted to a single interface that everyone could interact with.
As I put ideas on paper, I could visually see areas that could be simplified.
Medical doesn’t have to Equal Boring
For the sake of time, I worked on branding while I recruited and scheduled usability test participants.
Since medical apps can feel cold and overwhelming, I wanted to create an interface that would feel more approachable so I opted for fun, bold colors with the intent of users feeling more engaged.
I designed custom icons in Adobe Illustrator to give users a visual indicator of what each action is.
Validation.
Test Fast, Fail Fast
Given the time constraints, I wanted to test the functionality quickly and focus on the UI and fine details once I knew what worked and what needed improvement.
Creating a prototype to test with was the most effective way to gain meaningful feedback on the functionality so I opted to test with some quick wireframes (that I knew had a number of areas to refine) to see how users interacted with the app.
I knew I wanted to conduct my usability testing on mid-fi wireframes to see if users could interact with the app without the aid of colors and images.
I brought it back to my community of T1D parents and there was a lot of excitement around using a product like this.
Is it usable?
I brought it back to my community of T1D parents and there was a lot of excitement around using a product like this. I conducted remote usability testing with 5 participants to evaluate the design.
Although users were able to get through the tasks quickly, discussions with them revealed areas where they encountered confusion.
Refine.
Clarify. Simplify.
Usability testing and team review helped me uncover areas that could be improved and I implemented the following revisions.
Usability Test iterations
Before Usability Testing
Before Usability Testing
Before Usability Testing
I added the word ‘Acknowledge’ to the Low BG and High BG buttons to clarify that it is an action to be taken, not a notification
I added a notification at the top of the ‘Caregiver’ screen that the alert was relayed to other users to reduce uncertainty
I changed the verbiage from ‘Caregiver’ to ‘Actions’ for more clarity
After Usability Testing
After Usability Testing
After Usability Testing
UI Enhancements
Before Usability Testing
- •Created more definition within the T1D profile
- •Anchored the notifications to create hierarchy and reduce the feeling they were floating
- •Resized the graph and added threshold background colors for more visual contrast and ease of viewing data quickly
- •Simplified the Tab Bar icons to reduce cognitive load
After Usability Testing
Solution.
A way to easily communicate care decisions for peace of mind
T1 Trackr can simplify communication between parents and caregivers of Type 1 diabetics, keeping all users in the loop about care decisions to reduce stress and frustration.
Reflections.
Here’s What I learned
Working on a project that I was so familiar with meant consciously working to overcome assumptions and biases. I had to learn to be very intentional and cross check my decisions as I designed solutions - “Am I solving this for my user or for myself?”
Focus on building the minimum viable product to see if it’s valuable.
What’s Next
My goal is to take this to market.
What started as a conceptual assignment and a pain point that was personal to me led to the discovery of a true problem and a way to alleviate stress for fellow parents of type 1 diabetics, something I am deeply passionate about.
I’m not satisfied with this just being a fictional project. This is a real problem I have been complaining about for years and I am in a position to create a solution that could help my son and thousands of other families.
Realize the vision of what this could be.
There doesn’t seem to be a product of equal value in the marketplace. I’ve identified 50+ people within my community who are eager for something like this but there are approximately 250,000 families across the country who could benefit from this product.
I am fortunate to have a partner who is an engineer and our spare time is spent working on passion projects. Next steps are to build it, start with a small group, test and determine if this product is truly viable.
Objectives:
Launch app by Q4 2023
Key Results:
- 1.Finish MVP by March 30, 2023
- 2.Complete beta testing by May 30, 2023
- 3.Launch MVP with 50% user adoption
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