Project Background

DesignLab and the Google.org Healthcare Initiative (GHI) are working together to enable a superior user experience for their upcoming AMMA (Asthma Monitoring and Management App) product line. Google.org has created revolutionary technology that measures the wearer’s breathing patterns, blood pressure, steps, sleep patterns, and other vital statistics.

Project Challenge

Google.org already developed the innovative AMMA technology and was now seeking a strategic and human-centered design direction to ensure the technology serves their customers’ needs. One of the main challenges is organizing the architecture and displaying the information in a useful way.

Preparation

I created a Trello timeline to keep on track for the next two weeks. I then developed my Project Plan, Research Plan, and Interview Guide documents which outline research methodologies, tools, and questions.

Research

The provisional persona makes assumptions based on my own prior assumptions. Only about half of my assumptions were correct, when tested against research. I recruited 3 people with asthma on my Facebook network within 10 minutes. I conducted 3 hours of research in person, and over Skype. The updated persona displays a closer reflection of our target audience. 

Here were some of the key takeaways from my research:

1. There are more than only inhalers for medication. There are nebulizers, various kinds of pills and inhalers for short term, long term control, or for emergencies.

2. The worst time of day for asthma is usually before bed and then upon waking. Sometimes during the night, if not treated correctly before and after.

3. Emergency visits are very infrequent, but doctor and pharmacy visits are more common, especially for adults who already know how to manage their asthma.

Business / User Goals

I created a project roadmap to list useful features to meet the business / user goals, then prioritized them based cost and need. After refining to only include top goals, mutual goals discovered between the business and users were:

1. Improve asthma

2. Shareable Health Data

3. Worth the Price

Competitive Analysis

I took a look at several asthma Action Plans, apps, and wearables. I created a spreadsheet listing features that was based on the research, and then prioritized them based on cost and relevance. I then created a Product Requirements Document to compare existing products and discuss the features. The most important among all features were:

1.  Symptom Tracking

2. Reminders

3. Health and Area Metrics.

Application Map

Next we can see the process of going through a map incorporating the features, followed by sketches, wireframes, and final screens. My application map includes everything except a link to the store, to have the option of purchasing the wearable. I discovered this was important later on in the design.

Sketches to Wireframes

I chose Android Material Design based on our Google stakeholder and on our Persona who has a Samsung Galaxy.

I surveyed 3 different choices for the Android Material Design navigation bar. The most popular outcome was the top navigation with buttons for more real estate, delightful aesthetics, and a faster way to get to emergency contacts. Another challenging part was how to visualize the data.

Logo Design

I first created a mood board with ideas on Pinterest. My logo iterations with words I was using such as "breathe", "lungs", "air", "inhaler", and "Google". The combination inhaler/check mark was well-received by my peers as a unique symbol that can move towards brand recognition. Check marks are also involved in such trusted brands as Verizon and Nike.

Hardware Concepts

I visualized the wearable in Illustrator based on the pre-existing specifications. Here are 2 points about the wearable:

1. The one change I would make to the hardware, if it is cost effective, is changing the LED lights to include yellow, because this is typically how doctors chart Action Plan order of operations for asthmatics.
    
2. I prototyped different shapes, and in tests, the large oval was rated the highest as a clip/necklace combo.

Next, I came up with the recharging station for 2 reasons from my research:

1.  Wearables are difficult to remember to charge and to wear every day. A bedside charger provides an easy solution for recharge habit forming.
    
2. The persona keeps track of the quality of their sleep, because it has a direct effect on their asthma. I chose a recharge symbol to be opaque to reduce night time iridescent light.

UI Iteration

I created a mood board, then practicing with the Material Design style, plus the prior wireframes to form concepts.

Results

After user testing, the logo name "AMMA" returned as being more professional, and key screens were built out.

Project Solution and Next Steps

After only two weeks, AMMA now has a great start on their understanding of customer's needs, and has all the main ingredients in place for an amazing wearable and companion app.

The next steps are to conduct prototype tests and build out more screens based on feedback from asthmatics. It was a learning mistake that I tested with other users, rather than with asthmatics in later stages of design. I would love to continue to refine this project in 2017.