Overview
My final year at University, we were to develop and create a product from start to finish on anything that we wanted to. I decided to focus my project around bipolar disorder. Living in the 21st century we are able to engage with new and innovative products, and as the ever growing market of health related products increase, we can also help keep our health in better conditions than ever before. Mental illness is still surrounded by prejudice, ignorance and fear.
Role
Research, prototyping, visual design, user testing, and product design
Sept 2015 - March 2016
Background
It's common for individuals with bipolar disorder to not to take their medication correctly. They may stop taking medication because of unpleasant side effects or because they are 'feeling better.' Not taking medication only makes symptoms return and puts them at greater risk for a setback. I wished to create a product that could help control medication adherence and improve the level of trust between patient and doctor and also providing peace of mind to family and friends.
Understanding the problem
Looking at the current market of medication trackers available to use by the public, there were a variety of different pill dispensers, which were timed or manually opened. Seven day organisers and daily organisers were also among the market. I found most of these products to be unreliable as there was no true way of knowing whether or not the user had taken their medication or not. I wanted to create a product that would make feedback on medication adherence more accurate than just word of mouth.
Research and medical insights
To make my project as accurate as possible I emailed councillors in Dundee to advise me on different types of medication bipolar patients usually take and their dosage. Whether or not their medications changes depending on their different states, i.e depression, manic. And if so, what would their medication change to. I also questioned the seriousness of not taking medication, and how quickly it would affect them. I took a lot of time also reading up on bipolar disorder, to figure out what would work for normal people. There was no use creating a product that wouldn't fit into their lives stress-free.
Product visions
I was to create a mobile application that have two user groups;
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The person with bipolar disorder
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And their "support group" i.e doctors physiatrists, nurses, family and friends
I wanted create some sort of product that can track medication intake, and then send conformation that the patient has taken their medication correctly. Creating user journeys of each potential user helped me to work out exactly what each screen needed to achieve.
PRE SORTED MEDECINE PACKS
SHIPPED EVERY 2 WEEKS WITH YOUR CORRECT MEDICATION
Outcome
Topaz provides the user with pre-sorted pill packs based on when they take them throughout the day. Each packet is labelled with the date, time and the medication names with a code that works with a partnered mobile application. The patient is to open their medication, and copy the code within to the app. This allows the 'support group' to check in and review their medication intake through out the day.
