SmartCare
SmartCare are a MedTech startup, developing a HbA1c and Blood Glucose monitor, with associated app, that will help people living with type 2 diabetes monitor and manage their condition more effectively. Working as the lead designer during a six months Innovate UK sponsored project with ITERATE, I was responsible for all project deliverables and developed the first generation prototype application and device.
Listening Lab
Prior to engagement with ITERATE, SmartCare had conducted a focus group with the Listening Lab, to assess participants receptiveness towards their proposed product development. The outcome of the focus group was not entirely positive and the idea was met with a great deal of scepticism.
As the final deliverable of the six months Innovate UK project, user trials with the newly developed prototype application and device were once again held at the Listening Lab. The response to the prototypes was extremely positive, with nearly all participants asking ‘When can I take this home?’. To hear and view such positive feedback was very rewarding.
Head over to the Listening Lab’s website to read their featured article on the project: Listening Lab
As expected after only six months of design development, there are still many details to refine and explore further. SmartCare are in continued talks with ITERATE to continue development, following the success of the Innovate UK project.
Development process
Extensive planning and research was undertaken at the start of the project to clearly define the requirements of the application and the device monitor.
With such a new technology that allows the user to receive a blood glucose and HbA1c reading simultaneously, from a single finger prick test, a temptation could have been to overload the application and tell the user ‘everything’. How to present this new information, in a way that was immediately understandable and useful, was a key consideration throughout the duration of project.
