Client: Ascensia

Helping a medical device giant deliver a life changing diabetes venture.

Helping a medical device giant deliver a life changing diabetes venture.

We created a comprehensive Type 2 diabetes management service named Abound, and delivered it to 59 patients in a 16 week clinical study. The team developed every aspect of this new venture, from the brand identity to the job descriptions for new roles; from automated shipping & fulfillment to the communication channel connecting patients to service providers.

Case Study

My Role

I lead the interaction design (service/UX/UI) of both the patient facing app and guide (nurse) dashboard. As a multidisciplinary Interaction Designer, I worked as the glue between data science, communication design, design research, and software development. Keeping the user journey at the center of the experience, I was involved with everything from building each screen to leading user research sessions to building animations in Swift.

Challenge

Create a comprehensive diabetes management system for the digital age.

Solution

An end-to-end program that helped people with type 2 diabetes live healthier, happier lives through the power of habit.

Outcomes

Ascensia moved forward with Abound, and launched a free pilot program at two organisations in 2019. Over the course of the project, Abound went from an interesting side-bet to the cornerstone of Ascensia's future strategy for Integrated Diabetes Management.

Abound in a nutshell

Our client was eager to take on the diverse range of challenges which patients with Type 2 Diabetes face every day. Type 2 affects—and is affected by—nearly every aspect of life, including food, exercise, psychological wellbeing and sleep. Meanwhile, Certified Diabetes Educators (CDEs) are stymied by the infrequency of patient visits, which prevents them from following up on advice to cement real behavior change.


The result of the research and design effort was Abound: personalized, one-on-one diabetes coaching and education, delivered via an app, and supported by mailed "kits" of supplies and devices. All to help Members of the program embrace "The Power of Small Changes."

Our client was eager to take on the diverse range of challenges which patients with Type 2 Diabetes face every day. Type 2 affects—and is affected by—nearly every aspect of life, including food, exercise, psychological wellbeing and sleep. Meanwhile, Certified Diabetes Educators (CDEs) are stymied by the infrequency of patient visits, which prevents them from following up on advice to cement real behavior change.


The result of the research and design effort was Abound: personalized, one-on-one diabetes coaching and education, delivered via an app, and supported by mailed "kits" of supplies and devices. All to help Members of the program embrace "The Power of Small Changes."

Diabetes Research

Our team went into the field to interview patients, nurses, doctors and endocrinologists—but also scoured the worlds of business and academia to talk to experts and partners. Through this cross-sectional deep dive, they developed a philosophy of care based on positive strength-based coaching and motivational interviewing.

Our team went into the field to interview patients, nurses, doctors and endocrinologists—but also scoured the worlds of business and academia to talk to experts and partners. Through this cross-sectional deep dive, they developed a philosophy of care based on positive strength-based coaching and motivational interviewing.

Designing the Product

I lead the design of the entire patient app and corresponding guide dashboard. This included onboarding, matching patients with their designated guides, pairing with devices, chatting with coaches, receiving custom “burst challenges”, quiz questions to test literacy, content feed, and viewing data and progress in different genres (basics, food, mood, activity, and sleep).

I lead the design of the entire patient app and corresponding guide dashboard. This included onboarding, matching patients with their designated guides, pairing with devices, chatting with coaches, receiving custom “burst challenges”, quiz questions to test literacy, content feed, and viewing data and progress in different genres (basics, food, mood, activity, and sleep).

Working with Guides

The transformative heart of Abound is the relationship between each Member and their Guide—a CDE assigned to them during signup. Using the Guide Dashboard, Guides can view their Members' data, such as blood glucose and activity, and communicate with Members via phone or secure chat.

The transformative heart of Abound is the relationship between each Member and their Guide—a CDE assigned to them during signup. Using the Guide Dashboard, Guides can view their Members' data, such as blood glucose and activity, and communicate with Members via phone or secure chat.

Content Design

I also helped animate and shoot educational content used in the app.

I also helped animate and shoot educational content used in the app.

The Service

At the end of our design and development phase, Abound was a fully working service, with fulltime trained CDE (certified diabetes educators) guides and welcome kits. Guides could take on several patients at once though our dashboard.

Mapping out our Clinical Study

We detailed out every part of the Abound service in anticipation for our 59 patient clinical study. Including introductory call scripts for guides and intervention material.

We detailed out every part of the Abound service in anticipation for our 59 patient clinical study. Including introductory call scripts for guides and intervention material.

The Team

Built in ❄️ Chicago. We were a team over 10 data scientists, engineers, designers, and researchers.

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