UpToDate MedicineReminder App
A medicine reminder app designed specifically for seniors (75+ years) to help them take their medications on time and prevent missed doses through innovative fridge integration and user-centered design.
Introduction
An app that helps remind seniors (specifically 75 years or older) to take their medicine daily. For this project, I worked alongside Sofia, Xiaoli, & Baidiya as part of our IAT 334 (Interactive Design) course at Simon Fraser University.
Our focus was not just to remind them about taking medicines but creating a subconscious habit of taking meds in the kitchen, at a specific time of the day for as long as they are supposed to.
Goal
To keep the users (specifically seniors) aware of the number of doses per day and also prevent them from missing one. We wanted to create a system that forces them to cancel the reminder on the fridge, which turns out to be a very promising way to be reminded of taking the medicine and actually taking it.
My Role
I was responsible for UX Designing, Interface Design, Interaction & Prototype, and Project Management. I collaborated with my teammates to conduct user research, create personas, and develop the design system and user interface.
Innovation
We wanted to be creative and thought of an idea of integrating notifications into the fridge and asking for our users' take on it. This is because most people take their medicines in the kitchen, especially old people (according to stats), and creating a system allows for a sustained habit.
Design Challenges
Creating a medicine reminder app for seniors presented unique challenges that required careful consideration of accessibility, usability, and user needs specific to this demographic.
Research Approach
Secondary Research
We collected user reviews of many different medicine reminder apps from App Store and tried to identify common pain points in order to build personas and understand the market landscape.
Primary Research
Sofia was in charge of interviewing some seniors. She did this by asking open-ended questions and allowing them to provide as many details as they could, helping us collect a large amount of data.
Problem Statement
After analyzing all the data we had collected from many seniors, we defined a problem statement. We realized that a lot of these seniors suffer from the inability to properly take medicines because these reminder apps on their phones just chime once and they often forget about it.
Key Features
- QR code medicine addition system
- Daily medication tracking interface
- Doctor consultation chat feature
- Fridge integration system for reminders
- Voice recording and image attachments
- Automated sync with fridge interactions
Design System
Color Palette
• Primary: Green (wellness & healing)
• Background: White
• Text: Dark grey
• Muted colors to avoid harshness
Typography & Icons
• Font: Proxima Nova
• Minimal, non-overwhelming icons
• Tailwind icons for consistency
• Larger texts for better visibility
Design Philosophy
For the design system, we decided to move with the color green because it represents peace, serenity, wellness, and healing. We also made sure to use as less color as possible to reduce noise. Our colors are quite muted because we wanted to avoid harshness in their eyes.
Innovative Solution
The fridge UI is portrayed on an iPad Pro, which shows the newly redesigned layout, similar to the app's design. This creates consistency and reduces cognitive load for users. When the user taps on the fridge, it will automatically sync with the app and show the medicines taken.
System Benefits
- • Creates subconscious habit formation
- • Reduces reliance on phone notifications
- • Provides physical interaction point
- • Maintains consistency across touchpoints
User Experience
- • Familiar kitchen environment
- • Visual confirmation of actions
- • Reduced cognitive load
- • Enhanced medication adherence
Integration Strategy
We integrated more recognition than recall by recreating the UI for the fridge app similar to the phones, keeping colors, fonts, and design consistent. This approach helps seniors recognize and recall the interface more easily, reducing confusion and improving usability.
Study Parameters
Participants
6 participants with age ranging from 50 to 80 years old
Tasks
QR code addition, daily tracking, doctor consultation
Method
Voice recording, issue documentation, summary analysis
Key Findings
Redesign navigation buttons for better visibility
Automate tick boxes to sync with fridge
Provide medicine pictures and previews
Add voice recordings and images to doctor chat
Design Improvements
- Redesign FAQ pages with nested toggles
- Integrate more recognition than recall
- Provide larger texts for better visibility
- Add haptics to button presses for confirmation
Implementation Results
After implementing all the feedback we received, we gave our users what they wanted. We redesigned the entire app, not just the pages. The dashboard has medicines with image previews, chats allow for all sorts of attachments (similar to WhatsApp), and FAQ allows for a drop-down toggle screen.
Key Learnings
Recognition over recall - familiar UI patterns
Larger text and buttons for accessibility
Minimal cognitive load with simple navigation
Design Improvements
Consistent design language across all touchpoints
Emergency exits and user control options
Comprehensive FAQ and documentation
Project Success
We have learned the importance of allowing user control and freedom. We have added emergency exits in the app in case they want to cancel something overall than doing it every step all again. We have maintained consistency and standards all across every page of the app, and also the UI of the fridge. This reduces cognitive load and improves readability.
We have emphasized FAQ and documentation. This is because our user groups are seniors and more often than not they require help when they are lost. The comprehensive approach to accessibility and user-centered design resulted in a solution that truly addresses the needs of senior users.
Watch the complete project walkthrough and prototype demonstration to see the innovative fridge integration system and user-centered design in action.
View Prototype VideoReady to discuss healthcare UX design?
Let's work together to create accessible, user-centered designs that improve healthcare experiences for all users.