Pillbox
Tools
Role
Research, Ideation, Visuals, Prototyping
Timeline
15 weeks
Type
Mobile Application
Overview
The problem
People usually forget to take their medicines on time and face problems tracking their intake habit. They sometimes take incorrect medicines due to lack of information or misjudgment. Neither do they have a proper listing of the medicines they are taking and when to consume them.
Pro
blems
The solution
The solution to these problems was to design an easy to use app that will suit users behavior and needs. The app basically is a reminder application to alert users to take their medicines.
Design Process
I began my project with a user-centric approach, emphasizing the overall user experience. I employed a range of research strategies to acquire data and incorporate the findings into my app design at various stages of the process.
Design Process
Empathize
User Interview
Personas
Pain Points
Define
User stories
User journey
Compeitive analysis
Ideate
Information architecture
Paper wireframe
Iterate design
Prototype
Low - fi wireframes
Hi - fi
wireframes
Usability
testing
Test
User Research
My research began with a series of inquiries directed at a variety of people in order to have a better understanding of their issues and demands in remembering their routines. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of individuals and their needs, as well as to put them at the center of our design process and product. I gathered information through one-on-one interviews in order to learn more about people and the issues they confront.
The key findings of these one-on-one interviews were:
- Users want their devices or apps to be simple to use.
- Users want to manage and keep track of their loved ones’ schedules.
- Users prefer to keep track of their medication regimens.
User Personas
I constructed these proto-personas, or names, based on the research findings from the user interview. They would be crucial to the rest of the design process. All design decisions may be assessed and reevaluated using these personas, keeping the user and their perspective in mind.
Working adults and elderly people are the key target audiences for medication reminder applications. Adults nowadays are too preoccupied with their jobs to remember their medications, while elderly people just forget things as they get older.
Research
Main purpose of research is to gain clarity on the problem and how to develop potential solution to the problem. It allowed me to think deep into what I really want to accomplish in this project.
Domain Research
I looked into the market for similar products and tried three of the top listed ones in Play store.
Here is the detailed analysis:
The key take-aways from analyzing above applications are:
-
Considering detailed report of habit trend, only My therapy showed it properly but that too seemed a bit complicated to grasp at first.
-
As per my users, they usually discuss about medicines based on morning, mid-day and night instead of specific times. Dividing each day as such makes sense which isn’t present in any of the above products.
Wireframes
Based on the main goals, I finalized the most important screens of the app.
I created low-fidelity wireframes after analyzing the IA and user flows. These are the foundations of an application’s user interface that effectively organize all of the work that has been done onto a screen. Because of their flexibility, they can be modified as needed.
After ideating and drafting some paper wireframes, I created the initial designs for the pill reminder app.
All designs focused on delivering personalized guidance to users to take all necessary medicines for their health.
Prototyping
I created a simple prototype simulation of our proposed product during prototyping so that we could see how well it matches what users want based on their input. In user tests, interactive prototypes produce considerably more useful results.
To prepare for usability testing, I created a low-fidelity prototype that connected the user flow of adding a medicine in the user’s daily program.
Reminder Notification Screen: Users are prompted to take medicine using a pop up notification outside of the app. Also a full notification screen is shown to prompt user as per convenience. The way notifications gets prompted can be set by users in the settings page.
Medications Tab: To solve the problem of not having a complete list of medicines user is taking and the medicine they have stopped consuming, a separate tab seemed necessary.
It will be helpful for the users by:
-
Providing them an overview of the medications history.
Mockups
When I casually tested the two approaches with some users above 50 years of age, I got one common opinion - Clicking on the screen and opening the usual calendar layout was easier for them than swiping on a narrow part of the screen.
Most users forget their medicines and they feel sad.
When they take their medicines, an image appears in the end which encourage them by giving a funnier tone.In the end, they will remember this element which is helpful for remembering the next medicine.
High-fidelity prototype
Final Designs
Sign in/ Sign up: We added a quick google sign up/sign in option to make the use more comfortable, and any information needed then user can update them in-app only.
Features: Set medication reminder,pick days and add a medication.
Responsive Designs
The designs for screen size variation included mobile and tablet.
I optimized the designs to fit specific user needs of each device and screen size.
Take - Aways
Impact
My hope is that Pillbox will be a huge help for the majority of people who face this problem of taking medications on time or keeping track of it. Of course the function of the app can be broadened in the future incorporating other features.
What I learned
Once I have completed the application, I did some more evaluations. Most important of all I send out mockups to my friends and potential users for their opinions. Doing user testing and listening to them, helped me in iterating my designs for the better.
