I was recommended to Dan the CTO of Medopad by a developer I had worked with on a previous project.
Medopad are doing some really interesting things in healthcare by connecting hospitals and doctors directly to patients through the use of mobile technology.
The company has always been quick to adopt new technology and my brief was to create an Apple Watch app to coincide with the first release of the Apple Watch in June 2015.
The ability to effectively manage cancer treatment relies heavily on strict drug regimens. These drugs can often cause adverse side-effects which result in the patient not adhering to their schedules and missing much needed medication.
For patients, communicating these side-effects to doctors is a pain and unless a patient has a direct line of communication to their physician, the lapses in drug adherence can go unnoticed until the next hospital visit.
I use both iOS and Android devices in my day to day and I rely on that familiarity to make sure I am up to date with the current design patterns, navigation structures and interactions of each platform. However Apple Watch was a completely new device with no way to get my hands on one pre-release.
A quick visit to the Apple website to read through the Apple Watch documentation allowed me to learn about the new features and design patterns.
Having got up to speed, I worked with Medopad and their Medical Advisors to define the scope of the first version of the app. It would allow patients to do four things:
Notifications are a powerful feature on the Apple Watch. They allow information to be presented to the user right where they need it.
The user initially receives a vibration to alert them they have a notification. They raise their wrist to view the Short Look and if they keep their wrist raised the notification turns into a Long Look which allows them to interact with it, for example by marking a medication as taken.
The ability to report any symptoms experienced after taking medication is an important feature of the app. The design allowed for consumers to select from a list of potential symptoms and submit them to their doctor.
The app launch received some very positive feedback from both patients and doctors and was featured on a BBC news report (video length - 6:53 min).
The product continues to be developed and now has an companion iPhone app that mirrors a lot of the Watch apps' functionality.
This initial engagement led to an offer to go full-time with Medopad in a Product Management & Design role which I respectfully declined.
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