Automating Insulin Delivery for people with diabetes
Company: Tidepool partnered with Eagle* (2022) | Role: Product Designer, UX Researcher
*As the nature of this work is confidential, the actual name of the partnering company has been redacted and changed to Eagle for this case study.
Problem
Insulin pump users want to reduce their day-to-day burden of diabetes management
Solution
A mobile app capable of automating and adjust insulin delivery in the background
Outcome
Generated $1M in revenue for for Tidepool before market release
Objective
Increase adoption of insulin pump technology
Provide a convenient way to access insulin pump technology via a mobile app and thereby increase user adoption
Team
1 Product Manager, 2 Product Designers
Our small team worked with external stakeholders and the Eagle team to build this app from scratch over 12 weeks
My Role
Product Design and UX Research
The other designer and I collaborated closely to build a high-fidelity prototype of the entire application and conducted a usability study with 10 participants
What is insulin pump technology?
Background
People living with Type 2 Diabetes use different kinds of devices to keep their glucose levels in range throughout their day. Some patients use wearable devices like Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) to monitor their blood glucose along with an Insulin Pump to inject insulin into the body.
Tidepool and Eagle partnered to develop a native iOS mobile application capable of automating insulin delivery when connected to Eagle's insulin pump and a compatible CGM. This partnership aimed to increase user adoption of insulin pump technology for Type 2 Diabetes.
Project Scope
The project scope was limited to building an iOS-only mobile application for the niche population that uses a CGM device in tandem with an insulin pump.
Problem Discovery
1
Patients struggle with distress over daily management of diabetes and find it extremely time-consuming
2
Patients feel like a burden on their caregivers and want to be self-reliant
3
Patients desire more control over their disease with the goal of better overall quality of life
"Add user quote here”
— Add user name here
Product Goals
1
Include all core functionality needed to manage a connected insulin pump and compatible CGM device
2
Provide a simplified user experience for patients to be self reliant and indepedent while managing their disease
3
Minimize interruptions and decisions per day to reduce cognitive and emotional burden of the disease
4
Measure and communicate health outcomes to the user demonstrate improvements and product value
Design Principles
Intended Users
This app is intended to be used by people diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes who have prior experience with insulin pumps, CGMs, and iOS devices. All users would be willing to use an app to help manage their diabetes.
Design Rationale
Placeholder
Key goals that influenced the design decisions are:
Ease of use
Placeholder
Effective error handling
Placeholder
Risk mitigation
Placeholder
Constraints and Limitations
Placeholder about usability study
Success Criteria
Placeholder about usability study
Solution
A mobile application that monitors the patient's symptoms and automates insulin delivery when connected to an insulin pump and a CGM.
How does the app work?
The app receives glucose and insulin data from the connected CGM and insulin pump via Bluetooth. It makes a prediction about future glucose levels by monitoring the data every 5 minutes. It sends back commands to the pump to adjust the insulin delivery to reach the target glucose and reduce highs and lows.
Onboarding and Training
Instructional screens for rigorous in-app training to mitigate health risks for patients while using the app.
Since this app is part of a complex system that includes two hardware devices, a user has to go through solid training before they can use the app.
Insulin Delivery
Ability to view recommended insulin value and deliver a bolus* based on the type of the meal eaten
*Bolus is a dose of insulin taken to handle a rise in blood glucose that happens during eating.
Input prescription
Ability to customize settings based on your presciption
Pineapple cupcake muffin blueberry
Title
Ability to manage the connected Insulin Pump
Pineapple cupcake muffin blueberry
Title
Ability to manage the connected CGM device
Pineapple cupcake muffin blueberry
Title
Placeholder long
Pineapple cupcake muffin blueberry
Usability Study
Opportunities for Improvement