Context
Purcell, a MedTech startup is developing a patient-centric smart inhaler to provide engaging patient training and develop gamification to encourage inhaler use and reduce stigmatisation.
MISSION
Gamify the user experience to provide engaging inhaler use training, increase medication adherence and inhaler usage quality.
My Role 1 of 3 Student Design Team user research, design, prototype, testing
Time Frame 6 weeks
Discover
The problem around inhaler use
Studies have consistently shown that, on average, patients only take between 33% and 50% of their prescribed medication. This widespread non-adherence leads to a significant proportion of patients experiencing suboptimal disease control, which manifests in various debilitating symptoms, such as persistent wheezing, disrupted sleep due to nighttime breathlessness, irritability and diminished lung function.
Patient perception
Non-adherence to asthma medication is often due to patients' perception of asthma as an episodic condition, the delayed perceived effect of maintenance medication, and a lack of understanding about the difference between maintenance and reliever inhalers.

State of current digital inhalers

These digital inhalers share common features such as integrated sensors, Bluetooth connectivity, companion apps for monitoring and data sharing, and a focus on improving medication adherence and inhaler technique. However, companion apps lacks the patient education to better manage symptoms, optimise treatment and provide personalised education, reminders, and guidance.
problem
Identifying the Core Problems
Purcell aims to enhance its app via smart inhaler patient training and to develop gamification to increase user engagement.
  • Needs patient training on inhaler technique
  • Increase user engagement and motivation
  • Lack of personalised user experience
So how might we...make inhaler technique training engaging and gamify features to increase user motivation, and empower asthmatic individuals to embrace their condition?
“I try to stick to a routine but it can be hard when life gets busy. I wish there was an app that could help me track my medication intake and manage my health better!”
Barbara Davies
About
Living with asthma for over 15 years. Manages symptoms well. However, often stressed due to work responsibilities and personal health concerns. She struggles to balance a demanding job with the need for constant health monitoring.
Pain Points
  • Constant concern of asthma attack
  • Struggles to find reliable information about asthma management
  • barriers to accessing timely care from her GP
Behavior Considerations
  • conscientious, detail-oriented and prone to anxiety
  • proactive in managing her symptoms
  • tries to adhere to preventative inhaler dosage
Motivations
  • minimise symptoms
  • maintain high quality of life
Opportunities
  • provide valuable insights to better understand her patterns and triggers
  • Provide exercise training and resources she could use to stay active and manage her health
Age: 35
Occupation: Teacher
Marital Status: Married, no kid
Inhaler Usage: Good preventer & reliever usage
“Life's too short to let anything hold me back. I may have my ups and downs, but every breath fuels my passion to explore, create, and live without limits. I am aware that I have Asthma but it’s just a part of the adventure”
Paul Rodriguez
Age: 29
Occupation: Travel Photographer
Family Status: Single, lives alone
Inhaler Usage: poor preventer & reliever usage
About
Paul lives a spontaneous and adventurous lifestyle, often travelling to remote locations for photography assignments or exploring new hiking trails. He prioritises living life to the fullest and embracing every opportunity for adventure. Paul was diagnosed with asthma in childhood but tends to neglect preventive measures.
Pain Points
  • asthma attacks often disrupt his plans which leads to frustration
  • overuses his inhaler
  • relies on reliever inhaler to relieve symptoms
  • lifestyle makes it difficult to adhere to medication
Behavior Considerations
  • conscientious, detail-oriented and prone to anxiety
  • proactive in managing her symptoms
  • tries to adhere to preventative inhaler dosage
Motivations
  • minimise symptoms
  • maintain high quality of life
Opportunities
  • provide valuable insights to better understand her patterns and triggers
  • Provide exercise training and resources she could use to stay active and manage her health
Ideation
Sketching
My sketches focuses on creating user flows for effective inhaler training. The sketches aims to provide an engaging training experience for users, without feeling like a patient.
Mapping out user flow
The client wishes to make inhaler training prominent. To allow user flexibility and ease of access to training, I’ve mapped out the flow via 2 routes: onboarding training onboarded training (to re-jog memory) The 2 routes offer users the option to train on their own accord.
Design
Mimic breathing
This is the first step of the inhaler training where users have to empty their lungs. User and client feedback allowed me to focus on the crucial elements: Minimalistic Intuitive Engaging
My final decision is to maintain simplicity, yet provide clear instructions to users (ie. forward and back indications, exhale bar and progress bar). I’ve replaced the dandelion with a universal shape to deliver the breathing presentation.
Proper dosing pace
I’ve used sunrise as an analogy to the rising breathe when inhaling the medication, to symbolize slow rise in breathe to inhale the proper amount of dosage.
Pace deviation
When a user’s breathing pace deviates from the correct pacing, my initial design aims to convey this message via a sun glowing intensely. Users testing revealed lack of clarity.
My final decision takes reference from the client’s warning color palette, splashing the entire screen with the warning color replaced with a clear indication of a warning sign.
Smart detection feature
Once users picks up the inhaler, the design takes into account a smart detection feature to identify the medication being used.
This feature provides instant visibility of the app’s seamless integration with the smart inhaler.
Encourage dosage adherence
To encourage dosage adherence, users are rewarded with coins, to which it can be used to redeem gifts based on their preferences.
This feature is envisioned to leverage AI to understand a user’s personal preferences and hobbies to offer tailored products.
Prototype
Click here to try it out!