I spent a good 20 minutes looking over Jeremy's blog and I was very impressed, blown away, actually. He uses very descriptive language and really writes whatever comes to mind when looking at an app. I took note of the websites that he talked about and visited them. I hope to go through more of his blog tomorrow because it is packed with information!
Websites:
Websites:
- http://www.ted.com/talks
- http://healthdesignchallenge.com/#showcase
- and he mentioned a few apps, but I don't have an Apple device
Seeing such a wonderful example, he inspired me to think of designs for the information that I gathered today. I spent most of my day researching treatment options and medications that patients take to cure them of HCV. Then, I thought...how can I synthesize this information into the app? How can we track patient symptoms? How can we tell if they are really taking their medications.
I thought of a few ideas and drafted them on a scrap piece of paper.
I thought of a few ideas and drafted them on a scrap piece of paper.
My Treatment Options
The app should give the patient some flexibility with his treatment options and not just mandate him to take medications that have severe side effects and poor reviews.
First off, the icon for "my treatments" will be a tile (similar to that of Yelp). It will then bring the patient (let's say John Doe) to a screen that prompts him to record his genotype. John is Genotype 1. From there, it will bring him to his treatment options. John has 5 options, but his doctor selected 2 for him (highlighted in green). He can click on the ones his doctor suggested, or browse through other treatment options, including alternative medicine. When he clicks on "Ribavirin," he is brought to a screen that has tabs to various types of info: description, dosage, duration, side effects, SVR/success. Each tab will unlock more information for the patient to read, but mind you, it's an app, not a textbook ...so the patient will only be given pertinent information (eg: top 3 side effects w/ a drop-down arrow for more info). After John has read all of the info on Ribavirin and Interferon, he will come back to the "home screen/options page." He will then click on check off the boxes next to the green/highlighted doctor recommendations. Then, a prompt will come up saying: "Your doctor recommends...is that ok?" He will say "YES" and his treatment will begin. These medications, with according dosage will be logged into the app information and transferred into "MY MEDS."
The app should give the patient some flexibility with his treatment options and not just mandate him to take medications that have severe side effects and poor reviews.
First off, the icon for "my treatments" will be a tile (similar to that of Yelp). It will then bring the patient (let's say John Doe) to a screen that prompts him to record his genotype. John is Genotype 1. From there, it will bring him to his treatment options. John has 5 options, but his doctor selected 2 for him (highlighted in green). He can click on the ones his doctor suggested, or browse through other treatment options, including alternative medicine. When he clicks on "Ribavirin," he is brought to a screen that has tabs to various types of info: description, dosage, duration, side effects, SVR/success. Each tab will unlock more information for the patient to read, but mind you, it's an app, not a textbook ...so the patient will only be given pertinent information (eg: top 3 side effects w/ a drop-down arrow for more info). After John has read all of the info on Ribavirin and Interferon, he will come back to the "home screen/options page." He will then click on check off the boxes next to the green/highlighted doctor recommendations. Then, a prompt will come up saying: "Your doctor recommends...is that ok?" He will say "YES" and his treatment will begin. These medications, with according dosage will be logged into the app information and transferred into "MY MEDS."
My Meds
This icon is called "my meds." I found that adding "my" in front of the title makes it more personalized for the patient and creates ownership. The patient is more likely to maintain and stick with an app that he considers his own.
I really like the idea of allowing the patient to scroll through his medications, seeing the time he is scheduled to take it, and allowing him to log it that way.
When John clicks on his medication, let's say Ribavirin, he can log if he took it/passed/skipped, how he feels (better/same/worse), and add a note. This info will all be registered into the patient report card for his grade.
This app will also have reminders for the patient to take his medication. So at 8am, when it's time for John to take his Ribavirin pill, he'll hear a "chime" form his phone and he knows it's time to take his meds.
This icon is called "my meds." I found that adding "my" in front of the title makes it more personalized for the patient and creates ownership. The patient is more likely to maintain and stick with an app that he considers his own.
I really like the idea of allowing the patient to scroll through his medications, seeing the time he is scheduled to take it, and allowing him to log it that way.
When John clicks on his medication, let's say Ribavirin, he can log if he took it/passed/skipped, how he feels (better/same/worse), and add a note. This info will all be registered into the patient report card for his grade.
This app will also have reminders for the patient to take his medication. So at 8am, when it's time for John to take his Ribavirin pill, he'll hear a "chime" form his phone and he knows it's time to take his meds.
On Jeremy's blog, I saw that he saw a TEDtalk that showed the importance of gaming and I can apply that to my app design. Taking your medications should be rewarding. However, I'm not sure how to apply this "gaming" idea just yet. I do have some ideas:
- Have a picture of the pills and once the patient takes it, he will click on the on-screen pill and it will disappear
- have a graphic "pill box" that is filled with 30 pills, and each day that the patient takes the pill, that will be reflected in the box, until there are no more meds
- have a log, with let's say 30 intervals, for 30 days, and each day that the patient takes the meds, the interval (box) will turn green, for each missed, red. This will be factored into the patient report card.
*An important feature of the treatment is that the patient can call the patient can end treatment at any time. All that he has to do is click a button (similar to the one in the picture) that is titled "end treatment" if he is sick of his medication and can't bear the side effects any longer. In which case, the doctor will be notified and the doctor's approval will be necessary before the app's program terminates. The doctor should be involved throughout the entire process, for that reason, there shouldn't be much use to this icon, but it should always be handy.
Mypillbox
When drafting ideas for the "my meds" feature of the app, I needed to draw inspiration from somewhere. I started with the Google app store.
There, I found an app called "my pillbox." I found many of the features helpful and applicable to our app and these ideas were reflected in the description of the app that I gave above^^
When drafting ideas for the "my meds" feature of the app, I needed to draw inspiration from somewhere. I started with the Google app store.
There, I found an app called "my pillbox." I found many of the features helpful and applicable to our app and these ideas were reflected in the description of the app that I gave above^^
It was nice to structure the beginning of my day doing research and working on the "content" side of the app and the other half doing design. I was able to marry the 2 in one day, which is wonderful and way more satisfying than what I experienced yesterday, where I was baffled by medical jargon.
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