Pill Popper: Concept App
This project was a self-directed assignment in my final year of my Bachelor of Design. The final assessment was meant to be written as though it was a Medium article, hence the informal and conversational tone.
Content warning: some foul language ahead
section 1: the research
It’s no surprise that we, as humans, are forgetful. We forget to pick up groceries, what time the bus comes, and whether or not we locked the door after leaving the house. But sometimes our forgetfulness can have dire consequences.
It’s something that even I struggle with: remembering to take my prescription medication. In the the world of healthcare, it’s known as medication adherence. Or, in my case, medication non-adherence. Oops.
In patients with chronic conditions, 40–50% of them don’t take 80% of the dosages prescribed. This forgetfullness can have severe, adverse effects on a patient’s health; including nausea, headache, hallucinations and even seizures.However, one of the mot dangerous side effects of medication nonadherance is the opposite: nothing.
“Studies show a direct relationship between a patient’s perception of the need for a given treatment and his/her adherence to this treatment.”
In a study of 16,000 patients in Québec, 31% of patients didn’t even fill their initial prescriptions, citing that they weren’t medically necessary. In the United States, non-adherence to medication regimens account for up to 70% of hospital readmissions, and costs the health care system approximately $100 billion every year.
So what can be done to alleviate this health concern? Recently, the answer has turned to tech. There are a myriad of mobile applications that have been developed specifically to track medication adherence.
Now, all of the apps shown above are geared towards a certain age group. It is assumed that the majority of people taking medication for chronic conditions are elderly, which is true. However, a much younger demographic is often left out of the conversation when it comes to taking ownership of one’s healthcare: young adults. Stats Canada found that in 2011, 26% of Canadians between the ages of 15–24 take prescription medication regularly. That amounts to one quarter of young adults in Canada.
the problem
Too many medication scheduling apps are geared towards geriatric patients, and no other age groups.
They all account for those unnacostumed to technology: generic white backgrounds, easy to use interfaces, all the while using unfamiliar and technical medical jargon. These apps are simply unappealing, never mind those who grew up in the digital age.
the challenge
How might we motivate young adults to adhere to medication schedules?
All you have to do is scroll through parenting blogs to realize that it’s hard to get teenagers to do anything… mowing the lawn, walking the dogs, doing homework, the list goes on. As it turns out, this isn’t because they’re lazy (as my dad likes to say.) It’s about learning how to assert independence.
“Adolescents need to assert their independence and explore their limits, taking risks, breaking rules, and rebelling against their parents while still relying on them for support and protection.”
One certain act of rebelliousness came to mind. Swearing. If you take a scroll through google under the search terms “stop + teen + swearing” there are a host of articles dedicated to exactly that: parents trying to quell their teen’s obsession with obscenities.
the solution
Humour, irony, and foul-language.
To try and attain the look and feel of the proposed app, I wanted to stray as far as I could from the typical medication reminder app (that is, white, plain, and boring) and create something lively, young, and rebellious.
I tried to think of the most teenager-y thing I could think of, which involved trying to put myself into the shoes of my 16-year-old-sister. Because sadly, at the age of 24, while I’d like to think of myself as cool/young/hip, she tends to think the opposite.
Two platforms immediately jumped to mind: buzzfeed and snapchat. And the best part was that they both have similar colour palettes. They also both included shades of yellow, which I wanted to somehow make reminiscent of the traditional fluorescent orange pill bottle.
I was also reminded of something else very rebellious, teenager-y and obscene: Cards Against Humanity. The game “for horrible people,” as it says on their website.
And after doing even more research (can you tell it’s one of my favourite pastimes?) I discovered that swearing has ties to being more persuasive, providing cathartic release, and improving psychological health. Yep, profanties were definitely going to be playing a part.
in summary
I know who this app is for (young adults who take medication for chronic conditions), what it’s going to do (promote medication adherance) what it’s going to look like (white type with an emphasis on block letters and black backgrounds, with yellow accents), and what it’s going to say (use of foul-language preferred)… Now all that’s left is to do the damn thing.
section 2: doing the damn thing
After more than enough research and brainstorming, it was time to start prototyping. First I created some paper prototypes and tested them on classmates, friends, but most importantly, teens. And by teens, I mean my 16-year-old sister. I had to get creative since she doesn’t live in the same city, so after a lot of messaging back and forth, we came to the conclusion that user-testing across the province doesn’t work. So I scrapped that idea.
The paper prototyping wasn’t going too terribly with classmates, and so with their feedback I managed to get to the next stage which involved an interactive prototype in Adobe XD.
The paper prototyping wasn’t going too terribly with classmates, and so with their feedback I managed to get to the next stage which involved an interactive prototype in Adobe XD.
I then took this feedback (and more) and created the final, digital, prototype. Except nothing’s ever really final, ya know? But this is as final it’s going to get, for the time being.
Introducing:
Pill Popper. The Potty-Mouthed drug reminder.
The app designed to incentivize you to take your medication, based on language alone. And adolescent rebelliousness, of course. But that’s not to say that adults can’t enjoy everything this app has to offer.
section 3: pill popper
Features include a customizable alert system, a calendar that automatically inputs important dates (such as when to go to the pharmacy, or book a doctor’s appointment) a running tab of all current medications to show your physician, as well as a profile tab where you can easily access your health care team’s contact information.
Features include a customizable alert system, a calendar that automatically inputs important dates (such as when to go to the pharmacy, or book a doctor’s appointment) a running tab of all current medications to show your physician, as well as a profile tab where you can easily access your health care team’s contact information.
And what would the Pill Popper app be if it didn’t have some trade-marked passive-agressive reminders?
Thanks for reading!