Air-ing

Bréth

Ring + Monitoring Application

Chronic disease affect the physical and mental health condition of patients. They typically last more than a year and cause functional restrictions or require continuous monitoring or treatment. 
Globally, about 50% of all adults have a chronic condition, and approximately 8% of children ages 5- 17  have limited activities due to at least one chronic disease or disability.
They contribute to a poor quality of life for their patients.

ROLE

LEAD PRODUCT DESIGNER

UX Research & Strategy , User Interface Design, Prototyping

TIMELINE

1 months

The Challenge

How Might We design a system for a chronic illness like asthma so patients can maintain a state of homeostasis and improve their quality of life?

Scope of Work

Research & Data analysis
Personas & Customer journey
Synthesis, Ideation & development
User Concept maps  
Wireframing & Prototype Mockups
Feedback & Validation

The Solution

A customised asthma management system that tracks the quality of air around patients to keep them aware of impurities so they can breathe their best and avoid flare-ups.

Duration

4 weeks

The Problem- Asthma

A condition that attacks lungs during which a person's airways become inflamed, narrow and swell, and produce extra mucus, making it difficult to breathe.

Symptoms  
Shortness of Breath
Chest tightness
Wheezing
Difficulty breathing

The symptoms of Asthma vary from person to person and for the purpose of this project, I've narrowed it down to one case study and developed a customised system for them.

The Patient

Harsh Melwani
(he/him/his)

Age : 27
Profession : Interior Architect
Chronic Health Condition : Asthma
Insights from Patient's Interview
Understanding Routines
The goal was to understand the daily journey of the patient. It helped get to the bottom of finding triggers, frequency and severity.
Since Asthma is a chronic illness, it was important to keep track of the frequency of attacks and severity. These are the major hindrances in the patient's life and the goal was to reduce these symptoms to improve his quality of life.
Triggers and Treatment
Understanding the trigger and management system helped identify the various moderators that help keep the inflammation under control.
Since the patient has a history of this disease since childhood, there is certain system that he had developed to help him manage the disease.
The key factors that triggered symptoms in the patient were elements that he could not avoid. As an Interior Architect, dusty situations are something that he cannot avoid and Asthma hinders his efficiency at work. My aim was to develop a system that work hand in hand with his existing knowledge of his body and his management system.
OVERVIEW
Managing a chronic Disease

Chronic diseases have to be tackled on multiple levels. Since there is no cure, the management system has to be a holistic one. In this project, my design system aims to target prevention and control of attacks.

Decoding Triggers

The research results indicated clearly that exposure to three major triggers aggravated the patient.
I realized that limiting exposure to these and keep tracking of the intensity would significantly help reduce the frequency of attacks.

Design Process through Story telling

To be able to understand how the solution would help the patient, I used storytelling as a method to develop scenarios and understand the user experience.

The Solution
The Ring
How does it work?

The patient wears the ring that has sensors to track the air quality and measure the amount of dust particles, allergens and humidity. it changes colour based on the quality to immediately let the wearer know what range he is in currently.

Let's look at the various features of the Application
User Tasks
In order to be able to minimise frequency of triggers, we had to map out all the possible user case scenarios based on the patient's exposure. Since the triggers were humidity, pollen and dust, we had to consider all the scenarios where in there would be a variation in range for these particles. Seasonal changes would result in increase/ decrease of humidity and pollen. Since the patient here works in construction, he would be exposed to dust particles pretty often. His tolerance towards the amount , intensity and size of particles would have to be taken into consideration for the system to be able to warn him.
User Conceptual Map
System Functions
The ultimate aim was to figure out a complete system that works in conjuncture with changing seasons and weather conditions, ambience or atmosphere at different construction sites and various other factors that help prevent, improve or worsen the patient's susceptibility to an attack.
Features
The topic at hand is healthcare and since I was dealing with emergency situations that require
immediate attention and the quickest preventive care, I had to make sure that the important
features were immediately accessible to the patient.

The ring and app work closely to help prevent asthma attacks by keeping the patient aware of their potential hazards.
It also aims to ensure they get help at the earliest.
  • AIR QUALITY INDEX
    Indicates the overall quality of air at that current moment.
  • KEY TRIGGER PARAMETERS
    Measures these parameteres based on the patient’s tolerance level.
  • AQI OF THE DAY
    The graph gives detailed information about AQI based on the time and location for better tracking.
  • WEEKLY FORECAST
    The system learns from the patient’s daily routine and creates a weekly forecast based on the pollution report, location and daily activities.
  • ATTACK HISTORY
    Helps monitor frequency of attack.
  • DAILY ROUTINE TRACKER
    Tracks daily habits, exposure &
    symptoms for more accurate management.
    ‍
Value Feature : Find my Pump
A quick way to locate the salbutamol pump in emergency situations.
What happens on a Good Day?
‍

Extreme Case Scenario : GOOD

Day- Sunday
Patient spends time at home in the
presence of the Dyson Air purifier +
humidifier.
‍
Quality of Air :Good
Humidity : Within range
Pollen : Minimal
Dust: Minimal

What happens on a Bad Day?
Day- Tuesday
Patient spends time on site for most of the afternoon and evening, is exposed to a lot of cement dust and particulate matter.
The ring switches from yellow to orange and now is deep red.

Extreme Case Scenario : BAD
‍
Quality of Air : Bad
Humidity : Within range
Pollen : Minimal
Dust: Minimal
Symptoms & onset of attack

Coughing
Sneezing
Shortness of Breath
Escalations
The possible intensities of the attacks and their consequences.

Patient gets out of hazard zone immediately, finds pump and stabilizes himself. Caregivers (parents) track him and monitor his condition. He is fine.

Patient gets out immediately, finds and uses  the pump. It helps a little but not much. Caregiver arrives immediately upon receiving message. Gets home,uses nebulizer and is fine.

It is too late by the time the patient gets out. Caregiver arrives and he is rushed to the hospital immediately. The SOS message has already notified them and they are ready
with treatment.

#MyRecipe

Project type- Individual

Ingredients

Process

Since I was dealing with a chronic illness, I started off by learning about the illness. I found that symptoms varied between patients and it was essential to come up with a customisable solution. To narrow it down, I chose a patient who needed to be able to manage his symptoms when they were triggered through his occupational hazards. I mapped out his daily life routines & off beat patterns, medications and every aspect that could trigger/help with this. Through my research and discovery process, I came up with a system that learns and grows with the patient. The solution had to be non intrusive and seamlessly fit into his lifestyle. Comfort, care and timely help is crucial and thats what this system aims to help with.

My takeaways

What I learnt from this project was how difficult it is to have a one size fits all solution for asthma. Chronic diseases are tricky because symptoms vary over time and other factors. The system in itself was not a complete preventive solution. The only way to deal with it is to manage it and keep flare ups under control. The important thing was to keep in mind an intelligent system that learnt and collected data. As a smart system where the feedback loop was continuous, it's capacity to adapt and improve it's accuracy rate was of utmost priority. I also learnt how chronic diseases affect the quality of life in a patient and become a hindrance to their daily routines.

See Design Approach
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