Designing supportive mobile technology for stable diabetes

  • Authors:

  • Katherine S. Blondon;Predrag Klasnja

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Health Services, School of public Health, University of Washington, Seattle;School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

  • Venue:
  • DUXU'13 Proceedings of the Second international conference on Design, User Experience, and Usability: health, learning, playing, cultural, and cross-cultural user experience - Volume Part II
  • Year:
  • 2013

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Abstract

Diabetes is a complex, evolving chronic disease, with an evolving need for self-management as the disease progresses. Through patient interviews and a focus group, we explored the changing need for technological support for diabetes self-management over the course of the disease, with a particular focus on insulin users. We propose a design for supportive technology aimed at the stabilization and progression stages of diabetes, which focuses on the creation of an individualized database of how new experiences with food, physical activities and travel affect one's glucose levels. Our design supports feedback and improvement for future similar experiences, while avoiding the burden of intensive tracking. We propose a mechanism to suggest insulin doses adapted to the user, and sharing data with peers according to individual privacy wishes. Future research could allow this innovative approach to benefit non-insulin users.