PillaBox
Portable Pillbox and Mobile Application for Medication Management
Graduation Project
OVERVIEW
PillaBox simplifies the management of a patient’s medication. It involves two parts: (1) portable pillbox and (2) interactive application, which provides the patient with information related to the medication and how and when it should be consumed.
ROLES/SKILLS
Competitive Research, User Needs Analysis, Concept Development, Storyboards, Wireframes, UI Design, Prototypes, Product Design, 3D Modeling
SITUATION
70%
in USA
79%
in South Korea
$1Tn
in the World
Researchers have found that nearly 70% of Americans are currently on at least one prescription drug, and more than half receive at least two prescription drugs.
Studies have shown that around 79% of South Koreans above the age of 19 are on medication.
Worldwide spending on medication was expected to reach $1 trillion in 2014. This figure is expected to increase in the future.
CHALLENGE
As the market for medication expands, and as medication itself becomes increasingly complex, there has become a significant need for a product that addresses some key issues with the way in which medication is distributed and taken today. I decided to create what appears to be a simple, but yet necessary pillbox to address these issues, which include:
Increasing prescription
drug abuse
First, there is an abundance in the variety of medication. As the number of medication multiplies, so does too the potential for the abuse of drugs. Without ensuring that patients are taking their medication properly and accurately, patients could suffer from the side effects of improper consumption of their medication.
Inconvenience of existing products
Second, although there are portable pillboxes that purport to help people organize their medication, these existing products are not convenient to use and often force the patients themselves to organize their medication.
Increasing need for efficiency
Finally, there is an ever-increasing need for efficiency in today’s technology-driven world. People need to take their medication in a timely manner and without wasting too much of their time.
APPLICATION DESIGN PROCESS
User research
Competitive analysis
Data analysis
Persona
Need finding
Brainstorming
Conceptualizing
Storyboarding
Wireframe
Rapid prototypes
User feedback
Exhibition
APPROACH: RESEARCH > CONCEPT
Using various research methods such as market line-up and value proposition analyses, I determined key patient needs and began designing PillaBox to address these needs. For the pillbox, I focused on the three themes of portability, aesthetics, and manageability. For the application, I decided to include an alarm to notify the patient that it is time to take his or her medication.
DESIGN CONCEPT STORYBOARD
I put together the following storyboard to show the design concept of Pillabox.
The pharmacy then arranges the prescribed medication by date and time and directly delivers them to you.
2
The use of PillaBox involves interaction with an electronic system. You send the prescription from your doctor through the application.
1
After that, you just take your medication in your pillbox after loading the arranged small cups. You use an application to interact with the pillbox to get information and notifications. You can also order refills using the application.
3
WIREFRAME & PAGE FLOW
I proceeded to create a wireframe and page flow to design the interactive application. My focus was to create an easy-to-use application, keeping people with impaired eyesight in mind.
INTRO
SCREEN
ORDER
SEND PRESCRIPTION
CONFIRM DELIVERY
ALARM
CHECK ALARM
INFO & GUIDE
MY ACCOUNT
CHECK MY INFO
CHECK E-MAIL
MOCKUP & REFINEMENT
After creating the initial mockup of the PillaBox application, I began to do simple user tests. I found some issues from these tests and thus continued to refine the application based on test results.
Initial Mockup
Customizable for Eyesight Impaired
The initial mockup might have posed readability challenges for those with impaired eyesight. Thus, I decided to include a customizable function within the application to adjust the text size to suit the needs of the user.
In the initial mockup, the information provided about the medication appeared unorganized, making it difficult for the user to comprehend the information in a quick manner. Thus, I reorganized how the application provides the information, including adding titles to each category of information. I also made the icons more consistent throughout the information page.
Initial Mockup
Improved Organization
Initial Mockup
Given that patients would be using the PillaBox application together with the portable pillbox, I redesigned the page containing scheduled times to take medication for a more intuitive interface. Instead of the long list in the initial mockup, I decided to center an image of the pillbox and have that image contain information about when the user should take his or her medication.
Intuitive UI
VISUAL DESIGN & KEY FEATURE FLOW
Ordering Medication
Send your prescription to a pharmacy via the PillaBox application.
Alarm & Medication Information
The PillaBox application helps the patient take his or her medication correctly
and reminds him or her when to take the medication.
LEARNINGS
I was able to broaden my UX design experience. It was great to learn about and design a product that involved multiple and simultaneous interactions—interactions between the pillbox, application, and the patient.
