Gluco

An app for Diabetes Management

Overview

A case study on an end-to-end app. designed for users to log, track, monitor, and share with their healthcare provider key diabetes data (blood glucose, activity, carbs, Hemoglobin A1c, meds, etc.)

My role

User research, IA, Interaction Design, Prototyping, Usability Testing, Branding, UI Design

Tools used

Figma, Sketch, Illustrator, Invsion, Photoshop

Timeline

4 weeks

Context

Project for UX Design course

Project for UX Design c

How might we help people better manage their diabetes

The challenge

Diabetes is a health condition when your body is not able to process and take up glucose (sugar) from the food you eat; resulting in high sugar level in your bloodstream. A key hormone, called insulin that helps to maintain a healthy blood sugar level is either lacking or the body is not responding to it.

According to the CDC ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) at present, 1 in 10 people are diagnosed with diabetes. It is projected that by 2050, 1 in 3 people of the U.S. population will have diabetes if current trends continue. The goal for Gluco app is to provide a tool that is incorporated into users daily routine and have the option to share key information with their healthcare team so both approaches can help to optimized their health.

The process

Research

User Interviews
Diary Journal Study
Subject Matter Expert
Competitive Analysis
‍

Define

Personas
Journey Map
Sitemap
User flow

Design

Wireframes
UI Kit
Branding

Refine

Hi-fidelity Prototype
Usability Testing

RESEARCH

Goals

Understand who the users are and how to meet their needs, wants, and pain points
Learn the user’s method of diabetes management
Identify the strengths and weaknesses of Gluco’s app. competitors to discover potential gaps for improvements.

Competitive Analysis

I conducted a competitive analysis and discovered products available in the current market space used for managing diabetes. From this analysis, I discover what core features were necessary in Gluco app and what additional features that could be used to set Gluco app apart from others.

Subject Matter Expert (SME)

I interview Nicole Eva, a registered dietitian and diabetes Educator at Seton Diabetic Clinic.

She serve as a valuable resource to ask targeted questions regarding a diabetic routines, needs, and challenges.

“ The challenge is that some people with diabetics have poor insight into their health. They do not understand what diabetes is and how to self manage.”

-- Nicole
Diabetes Educator

User Interviews

I conducted in-person interviews ( 5 participants) to gain a more in-depth understanding of the needs and pain points of diabetics and how we can improve their diabetes management.

Diary Journal Study

Three participants were recruited for a three-day study where they logged their activities and thoughts related to diabetes management.

I gained a lot of insights to emphasize with the users. Here are some of the findings from all the primary research:

Users manage diabetes through a combination of medication, exercise, and carb counting
Users will get their HbA1c periodically. Most will write down their blood sugar levels and share information with a health care provider.

Most were compliant with medications by
creating a routine and in conjunction with meals
Challenges include finding time to fit in exercise due to their busy lifestyle

DEFINE

Building Personas

As part of the research, the question I pose is: Who are we designing for? All the voices, thoughts, and input from the participants were gathered to reflect our target audience. My design decisions were influenced by the following personas:

Meet Wendy Winters and Marvin Pallazar

Journey Map

The data were collected from prior research and presented visually to understand how our persona, Marvin, manages diabetes in a day, starting from the morning into the evening. This includes monitoring his blood sugar level ( glucose ), carbohydrate and medication intake, and the challenges he encounters.

see full image

Information Architecture

Next, it is important to show how the user will interact with the app and how the entire product is laid out.

After finalizing the navigation structure, I proceeded with a task flow and user flow to test if I could accomplish a goal of inputing a blood sugar level. Following these processes helped me clearly establish the app’s goals before designing the interface.

Taskflow and Userflow

DESIGN

Low-fidelity wireframes

At first, I started by sketching wireframes for the homepage’s layout
to brainstorm some possible solutions. Then I proceeded with the other pages by creating low-fidelity wireframes.

User Interface Design (UI)

I wanted to create a logo mark that users can relate to and trust, but at the same shy away from the “stiff and clinical” feel of the medical field. Therefore lines are more fluid to create a more humanistic quality that’s relatable.

These are early sketches for the onboarding pages. It serves to inform the users the functions and benefits of the app.

The color blue is commonly used in the medical field, it stands for trust and calmness. Blue is added to the visual design for this purpose.

REFINE

Usability Testing

To test the usability of the app’s interface, this evaluative research using the “Think A Loud” method was done with 3 participants. Participants are given two main tasks: 1) input a blood sugar level 2) share the data report with their doctor. The results from the research show all of the participants were able to accomplish this.

The final design

The usability provided insights on how to improve the app and ensure that the app interaction design is easy for the users to accomplish their goals. Recall the problem statement: “ How might we help people better manage their diabetes?” Here are the screens to show some ways to help manage diabetes:

Home page

At a glance, users can see the most current data related to diabetes ( blood sugar levels, carbs intake, insulin given, the amount of exercise, and more ). Users can use the “Add” feature from the homepage to input their data.

Add Blood Glucose (Sugar) Page

This page allows users to input their blood glucose (sugar) level readings. Users can further note whether this level was taken before/after the meal or fasting. With the help of their healthcare provider, people with diabetes will learn when is the right time to test their level and how to manage it accordingly.

Share Diabetes information

Users can view past data relating to diabetes management from the History menu. They can select by weekly or monthly timeframe, and data such as their average blood sugar level will also calculate.

This app work best in conjunction with care from a healthcare provider. Users can define a time period, share these data with their care provider, and discuss their status in diabetes management.

What I've learned

This was a passion project for me as I was able to use my knowledge of both healthcare and design.
Working on the Gluco app project was really exciting and challenging at the same time. I gained a lot of experience using various generative/evaluative research methods to guide the direction for the app's development. I learned how to embrace ambiguity, but collaborating with other students and mentors helped me find solutions.

If given more time and resources, I would like to conduct more interviews with participants with different types of diabetes as this may influence additional features that are not met.

Next steps:
This project will be redlined and ready for hand-off to developers.

More research on users dependent on insulin medication and using CGMs ( continuous glucose monitoring); An device is what they wear to help regulate normal blood sugar levels.