Medtronic Diabetes Group
UX Design Intern
12 Month
Design a service that helps users to manage diabetes with less physical and emotional burden.
1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year.
People with diabetes have to make major change to their life style from the moment the diagnosis is made. These transitions frustrate them both physically and psychologically.
There is no way to completely cure diabetes.
Before the internship, I thought design for people who have specific diseases is going to be straight forward because I understand their symptom. However, reality was not like my imagination. Numerous elements were intertwined. Users with the same symptoms preferred different solutions depends on how they feel with the solution.
There were two things that I thought important while I worked there.
1. Making the service informative and easy to understand.
For the users, learning how the lifestyle affects their health was a key to manage themselves. I worked on ways to visualize data clearly to all users included have low-vision and are color blind.
2. Making the experience less frustrated.
I knew it is hard for users to be delightful while they are treating themselves. However, I tried my best to make the experience neutral while users using the service. Emotional support was one of the most important values.
The service includes a mobile app, watch app, continuous glucose monitor sensor and etc.
Through learning an appropriate way to control blood sugar, users can have a optimal quality of life like normal people.
In the medical industry, it was not easy to make dramatic changes and try some new things because of regulation. During one year of the internship experience, I learned how to explore possible solutions within the restrictions.
Collaborate with people with various backgrounds, such as clinical research, human factors, and SW development.
Learned how one service could be different depends on different channels, how could I give the values to each form, and how to orchestrate them.
