A smart companion for children and caregivers
Developed in partnership with
My Role
Product Design
UX Research
Healthcare
Project Management
In collaboration with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) and Emory Healthcare, I led the design and planning for revamping the TypeU app, built to support caregivers and children with Type 1 Diabetes. As the sole designer, I shaped the end-to-end user experience with a strong focus on inclusive design, trust, and usability.
This project began as part of my master’s program, and I am now continuing to work with Emory Healthcare to further improve the product through ongoing iteration. My work involved user-centered design, including user research, usability testing, and stakeholder management at all levels. I also led project management, coordinating tasks, timelines, and team communication.
By working closely with healthcare professionals and parents, I incorporated ongoing feedback into iterative design cycles, delivering a solution that was both functional and responsive to real-world needs.
Team
1 Project Manager
2 UX Researchers
1 UX Designer
Duration
12 months
Time
August 2024
Tools
Figma
Adobe Suit
Notion
Pendo
User Interviews
Problem Space
How might we design a decision support tool to help parents of newly-diagnosed T1D children confidently make informed care decisions while reducing stress and ensuring timely interventions?
Caregiver Education
Educate caregivers on effective T1D management, emphasizing decision-making and emergencies
Building Confidence
Identify ways to help parents manage their child’s T1D with clear, supportive resources.
Emergency Management
Improve support for families managing T1D during emergencies.
User Research
Competitive Analysis
Purpose
To understand how existing diabetes apps meet user needs, uncover gaps and opportunities in the market, and inform our redesign.
Findings
Most diabetes apps lack bolus calculators, emergency support, and T1D-specific education, and are often device-dependent.
TypeU: Strengths and Gaps Analysis
Key Strengths
TypeU stands out as a T1D-specific app with an insulin calculator and evidence-based education, validated by CHOA for trust and reliability.
Opportunities for Improvement
TypeU could improve with data logging, healthcare provider sharing, printable reports, CGM integration, emergency support, and reminders.
Diabetes apps grouped by unique features and core strengths to highlight gaps.
Semi-Structured Interviews
Purpose
To explore caregiver challenges, processes, and behavioral changes throughout the child’s T1D diagnostic and management journey, and to gather clinician insights to improve the TypeU app.
Participants
5 Parents
4 Endocrinologists
4 Educators
1 Nurses
Findings
Parents
Transition to independence, peer stigma, insulin dosing risks, and lack of centralized information are key challenges, along with diagnosis overwhelm and mental health barriers.
Clinicians
Key challenges include emergency guidance, insulin calculation, personalization, multilingual support, health system integration, and long-term tracking.
Affinity mapping of parent and clinician inputs, grouped by key themes.
Quantitative App Usage Analytics
Purpose
How can we use behavior data to identify engagement, pain points, and boost satisfaction and retention for TypeU users?
Metrics
Page Views
Page Durations
Days Active
Number of Events
Visitors per Hour
Funnels
Page Exits
Findings
The app had 995 visitors, with an average session of 3m 26s and 8 days of use, indicating limited but focused engagement.
Only 21% of the app is explored, while 79% of users engage primarily with the calculator.
Research Findings
Research Synthesis
Personas
Emma's Journey
Caring for Hope Through High Blood Sugar and Fever on a Sick Day
Design Requirements
Ideation
Card Sorting
Purpose
To identify user priorities and narrow down features for the final design.
Participants
8 Parents
3 Endocrinologists
4 Nurses
5 Educators
Findings
There’s a disconnect in priorities as parents value education, logging, and doctor communication, while clinicians focus on emergency support and protocols.
Top: In-person testing with physical cards; Bottom: Virtual translation of physical experience
Concept Testing
Purpose
To refine the prototype, we explored feature feedback, confusing areas, and user clarity.
Participants
8 Parents
3 Endocrinologists
4 Nurses
5 Educators
Low FidelityTesting
Purpose
To confirm the app's premise aligns with user needs and wants from early research and testing.
Participants
6 Parents
10 Educators
2 Healthcare UX Professionals
AB Testing
Purpose
The calculator is the most used feature, but unmet needs validated the decision to redesign it.
Participants
6 Parents
2 Endocrinologists
10 Educators
Findings
All 6 users preferred the new calculator during think-aloud testing.
Design System
Character Design
Solution
Emergency Management
Emergency Protocol Guide
An easy-to-follow algorithm that helps parents navigate CHOA’s care protocols with symptom-based steps and visual cues for accurate, confident responses.
Actionable Steps for Urgent Situations
Provides clear, actionable advice for emergencies, including when to call 911, visit the ER, contact CHOA for support, or manage the situation at home.
Insulin Calculator
Quick Calculation with Saved Foods
Easily calculate insulin using prefilled constants and save frequently used foods for faster selections.
Clear Process for Trust and Learning
A simple and transparent process that helps parents understand how insulin needs are calculated, building trust in the system.
Log Insulin Directly
Log insulin directly from the calculator for streamlined tracking and management.
Blood Glucose Log
Insulin & Blood Glucose Tracking
Users can track blood glucose (BG) levels, insulin, carb intake, and time, and add personal notes for context on their logs and insulin needs.
BG Trends & Data Sharing
Users can visualize BG trends over a custom period and export the log to clinicians, making it easier to identify patterns and enhance healthcare collaboration.
Insulin Reminder
Insulin Reminder Alerts
Reminds users to take insulin, specifying long-acting or short-acting, easily accessible through the lock screen widget for quick access.
Customizable Reminders
Allows users to customize reminders for specific days and time periods to fit their individual schedules.
Educational Resources
Quick Access to Organized Educational Content
Access important educational content, organized for easy understanding, along with diabetes-friendly recipes to support healthy eating and blood sugar control.
Multilingual Support
The app offers multilingual support, ensuring educational content is accessible to a wider audience.
Testing & Evaluation
User Testing & Heuristic Evaluation
Purpose
To gather patient feedback on new features, usability, and efficacy, and to gain a professional perspective on the design and its alignment with UX heuristics.
Participants
4 Parents
5 Healthcare UX Professionals
Findings
100% task completion by users for all tasks without any support.
75% of parents liked and indicated they would use the blood sugar log.
Playful visuals and icons were understood and liked.
Left: In-person heuristic evaluation · Right: Remote user testing
The comments in the log are perfect — it’s good to have space to add details.
The calculator explains things well; it’s easy to understand, especially for new parents.
When you’re new, it's overwhelmed. This gives just the right amount of information.
Stakeholder Evaluation
Purpose
To gather medical perspectives on the quality of protocols and patient services.
Participants
2 Endocrinologists
10 Educators
Findings
Educators ranked the heuristics on average to be 4.89/5
Incorporate gamification to increase usage by children.
In-person stakeholder evaluation with diabetes educators
I think that this update will be very beneficial and I’m excited to see it up and running
Appreciate ability to save dosing versus entering every time
Learnings
Ethical Research Practices
Handled sensitive topics with empathy and care.
Stakeholder Alignment
Balanced user needs with business goals.
Information Architecture
Simplified medical content for non-experts.
Technical Constraints
Prioritized features based on feasibility.
Domain Immersion
Quickly gained T1D knowledge through research and expert input.
