Simplifying Medication Management
Simplifying Medication Management
The Company
Role
Native App Design (iOS + Android), Hardware UX and Setup, Branding, Consulting
Timeframe
6 Weeks (Initial Scope)
As a design consultant I have the opportunity to help early to mid stage startups around the country to start thinking about design early in the product/business development phase.
Sensal Health is a startup, based out of Raleigh-Durham, NC, who has created a proprietary line of devices and complementary application for tracking medication administration during clinical trials. I was brought on to the team to help them better define their brand, provide design and business strategy, and concept/design their native apps and hardware UX.
In addition I worked on a corresponding responsive platform for clinical research organizations to track patient progress and manage their trial.
Objective
Create a brand and product suite that empowers clinical research organizations to better track patient adherence while driving patient adoption with a modern application they will love to use.
Costly Trials
> 2,000 open trials today. Pharma incurs higher costs from replacing
non-adherent patients to keep
studies adequately filled.
Low Adherence
73% of patients are not adhering to topical treatments. Lack of adherence is a proven problem that delays time-to-target-outcomes for derm treatments.
Discovery.
With the rise of remote patient monitoring, particularly in hybrid and virtual dermatology trials, existing solutions have made strides in tracking physiological symptoms and treatment environments. However, a critical gap remains: the ability to effectively monitor medication dosage.
Limited Technology
Existing electronic monitoring is limited in functionality. There are currently no products in the market that measure amount dispensed for medical creams.
The company had already started on a barebones iOS application when I came on board. One of the first things I did was better understand the current feature set and map out their IA to get a better sense of how the user would experience the application more holistically.
I then worked closely with their team to better determine known features and general timeline for implementation. Apps are living objects that evolve over time, but I have found having a strong base understanding of the company and their vision for the future of the product(s) enables me to think bigger picture and formulate how all of the piece will fall together over time.
*HIgh-level product requirements doc for tracking app experiences.
The Final Product.
Simplified Onboarding
To introduce the app and its core functionality, I designed a simple, three-step walkthrough that effectively conveyed the app's purpose. This was especially valuable for users who were asked to download the app as part of a clinical trial.
Daily Medication Alerting & Tracking
The primary functionality of the app is to track medication adherence. This allows clinical research organizations and practitioners to better understand patient adherence. Key features include:
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A list of upcoming medications for the day
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Alerts when a medication dose is due
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The ability to mark medications as taken or skipped
Additionally, users can view a historical record of doses and the data they have recorded.
Comprehensive Reporting & Analytics
During initial product research, the team discovered that users wanted greater visibility into their adherence progress. I worked on a reporting feature that quickly visualized patient progress, helping users track their performance. Key functionalities include:
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Viewing overall adherence, time adherence, and dose adherence for a given week, month, and full trial
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Using color coding to quickly identify whether they were doing well, just okay, or needed improvement
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Accessing the data their provider could see
Custom & Industry Surveys
The app also allows patients to respond to surveys created by the clinical research organization. These surveys can be specific to the trial or medications the patient is taking, as well as industry-standard surveys. Survey results are captured and sent directly to the CRO platform, enabling providers to track patient progress throughout the trial.
Scaling Design Across Native Apps
Like many consumer applications Sensal Health found their users were distributed across android and iOS devices. I worked to create a visual language and navigation that could flow seamlessly across native technologies while keeping in mind unique characteristics and unique needs for each.
Android App
iOS App
Appointment Scheduling & Pre-work
In addition to medication adherence tracking, the company wanted to push information from the Clinical Research Platform to the patient app, including appointment details created by the provider. Users can:
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View a list of upcoming appointments
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Contact the Clinical Research Organization (CRO) to cancel or reschedule appointments
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Access a list of pre-work requirements for each appointment
Outcome.
Medication adherence remains a significant challenge within the healthcare system, with 3.8 billion prescriptions written annually in the U.S. Yet, one in five new prescriptions is never filled, and approximately 50% of those who do take their medications do so incorrectly, particularly in terms of timing, dosage, and frequency.
By providing patients and practitioners with tools to easily manage and track medications, we can improve patient outcomes, streamline care, and enhance organizational efficiency, ultimately driving better care delivery and financial performance. This work was used by Sensal Health to engage with multiple clinical partners and has been critical to helping the company continue to raise funding for continued research and development.
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*Image of CRO platform that was also designed to interface with the app.
