Final project: Designing for User Experience

For this project, my group embarked on designing a health monitoring product for the aged. Our society is aging and with the demands of today's fast pacing world, it is impossible to give 100% care for our aged. Hence, we propose to create a product that can allow the elderly to be constantly in check of their health status and for neccessary signals to be sent to their families during times of an emergency.

User Research

Target Audience

Elderly prone to health risks that need continuous monitoring. This is especially the case for elderly who have just undergone surgery and need special monitoring.

Our team conducted an ethnographic research and found that problems elderly face when using a health device are :

1) the complicated information displayed on the health monitoring device
2) Small textual information on the device
3) Buttons that are multi-function
4) Too many measurable entities in one device
5) Wearing devices on their bodies as it is not part of their culture

Expertise Interview

· Wrist is an accurate measure of heart rate and blood pressure, but not body temperature.
· Body temperature is usually taken in the mouth, underarm, ear or rectum.

About the Product

Our product will be an integrated, real time health-monitoring device that is able to transmit signals to appropriate parties in times of impending emergencies. With a GPS system embedded in the device, the product is able to track the location of the elderly during the crisis. It will be seamlessly incorporated as a product that can be part of the daily life of the aged.

Measurable Entities of product

-Heart Rate
-Blood Pressure
-Body Temperature

Design of the High Fidelity Product

(Back view)


How it works

Before its usage, there is an administrative step to complete. First, the product is registered online with user's personal information and contacts of doctors or children of elderly added in beforehand. ( http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~vohuutie/nm4210/login.html
). This is to allow automatic relay of messages in times of an emergency. A GPS tracking system is in place to know the exact location of the elderly during an emergency.

After registration, the users can start to use it. The product is to be worn constantly on the elderly's hand. On the wrist, the product can measure blood pressure and heart rate in real time.


To see health status, the user must press the mode button once. To check for the next measured entity, the user simply presses the mode button another time to change the screen. A light signal will inform the user the health conditions (Green = good, Amber= warning, Red= danger).


When not in use, the product will perform like a wrist watch. In times of emergency, the light signal will be illuminated in red, the alarm will sound, and a message is automatically sent to families.

In order to take a temperature reading, elderly have to slip the product face from the strap and place the sensor behind into their ears and push the mode button once. Should the body temperature raise beyond the safe range, the same automated message is sent.

In the event where there is an emergency but no drastic change in heart rate or blood pressure is recorded (for e.g. when an elderly falls down), the elderly can press and hold the 2 emergency buttons located just above and below the product face for two seconds to sound an alarm and send a message to seek for help.

Apart from taking health reading in real time, the product is also useful in information recording. It can be connected to the computer to allow transfers and updates of health information in the software. The data collected will also be sent to the hospital database and documented on a daily basis. This serves as an updated patient’s record that the doctors can keep track, before the next medical appointment.


Pressing the mode button to check for heart rate readings

Pressing the emergency button

Slipping out the product face

Taking body temperature

Experience Strategy

1) -User Experience goals our team hoped to achieve:

o Peace of mind
o Trust
o Easily incorporated as part of lifestyle
o Health-conscious statement to peers
o Value longevity

2) - Business Strategy

Sales model

• Product will be first promoted to hospitals as a recommended device for their patients. (Point of entrance)


• Can be bought from hospitals or over the counter in pharmacies with doctor’s prescription.For infrequent users who do not wish to purchase the device for a short term usage, (for example elderly who have just undergone operation) they can rent the device from the hospital for a period of time.

Marketing

• Has to be heavily marketed as easy to use and help to enhance health through channels that the aged normally subscribe to


• Viral Marketing


• Doctors testament to the product’s use

Government subsidy and support

• Pamphlets or brochures in hospitals or clinics.

Final User Evaluation

• Product appearance is pleasing
• Easy to learn
• Easy to use ( multifunction button, simple interface)
• Light signals are useful
• Large LCD aids visibility
• Trusts & feels safer with the product
• Face is too big and heavy
• Difficulty in slipping the face back into strap
• Difficulty in wearing the product

While the product is generally thought to be easy to use, many respondents mentioned one common difficulty. They found that it was easy to remove the product face from the strap, but problematic to put it back because of the strength of the clip (behind the product face) as well as the flimsiness of the strap. Apart from this, most found that the product was straightforward to use. On the whole, there is a good level of acceptance of product by the elderly. Most respondents said that they are willing to adopt its use because they feel a sense of control when using the product and also feel safer with the device.