Dropp: Product-Service Ecology
This individual, one month long assignment at CCA, was to identify one chronic disease and re-design the system that could provide more comfort for sufferers in their daily lives. I chose dry eye disease because I suffered from it myself at the time of doing the project.
I Designed a product and an app that manages eye moisturization by using a system based on the feedback loop. The advisor for the project was Hugh Dubberly, design planner and teacher at California College of the Arts.
1. Understanding the system — context
Dry eye is a common and often chronic problem, particularly in people staring at the computer screen for a long time. People with dry eyes either do not produce enough tears or their tears are of a poor quality. I interviewed eight Dry Eye disease sufferers and two eye doctors. After research synthesis, I gathered key findings and created opportunities.
I focused on a specific group of users: Those who spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen. Making a Model of Current State helped me understand how the disease works and what parts of the system I can manipulate to provide more comfort for the sufferer. I made a persona to answer a question: "Who are we designing for?"
2. Re-designing the system — implant with artificial tears and mobile app
The newly designed product-service ecology system includes an app and a tear duct plug. The moisture sensor attached to the artificial tear container mounted inside the eyelid sends the value of humidity to the app. If there is not enough liquid inside the eye, the artificial tears are released automatically. The user can adjust the amount of lubricant released to the eye.
3. Adjusting eye moisture — automatically and manually
The amount of artificial tears released to the eye is set automatically based on data from the moisture sensor, the environment, and consumers’ needs; however, the consumer might sometimes want or need to adjust the amount manually. They can do it through this tab.
4. Leveraging doctor's support
During research I found that a key to successful managing of Dry Eye disease is doctor's support. It's important to have a possibility to contact a doctor when needed, manage appointments, and that both doctor and patient have access to the eye moisture statistics.
On the calendar page, user can stay on top of doctor meetings by managing appointments, but they can also control the timing for artificial tear container replacement, and manage reminders.
Stats screen could be useful for both customer and their doctor to have an insight of the artificial tear usage and eye moisture trends.
5. Developing healthy behavior change
Many Dry Eye Disease sufferers forget that there are multiple external variables which impact eye dryness. I added the "Tips of the Day" tab to help consumers keep those in mind and stay healthy.
6. Improving accessibility - iWatch key screens
I conducted usability tests and I learned that users wanted more accessible way of managing moisture in their eye, and that using iWatch for that purpose would be a working solution.
