The Prepaired inhaler is a redesigned inhaler and connected app ecosystem for adolescents with asthma.
Our team developed an improved asthma inhaler that prioritizes the needs of users by creating an intuitive and holistic user experience. Our solution is extremely helpful for patients, their parents, and healthcare providers by allowing users to take control of their healthcare. We designed a high-fidelity interactive app prototype, as well as a prototype for the redesigned inhaler.
Roles: Designer and researcher (Group project)
Timeline: 1 semester
Context: Coursework
The goal of this project was to create effective solutions for a children’s asthma inhaler that enables children to take control of their own health.
Our team researched user needs and requirements from information from online resources, surveys, and from interviews with people with asthma. We investigated materials and designs to iterate a design that works for our users. Once we were satisfied with our design, we constructed a high-fidelity prototype.
Tools: Qualtrics, pencil, paper, skype, databases, foam prototyping, hot wire, 3D printers
Users
Primary users 10-15 year old’s with asthma:
The primary users are concerned because their activities cause shortness of breath, their asthma action plans are out of date, there is social stigma about having asthma and using inhalers, and they lack confidence about if they use their inhaler correctly.
Secondary users Parents of 10-15 year old’s with asthma:
The secondary users have growing concerns as their children become more independent about how their children will manage their asthma.
Needs and Requirements
Users need for their asthma action plan to be displayed/accessible.
Users need to be confident in how to use their inhaler.
The inhaler needs to connect to a phone to transfer information.
The inhaler needs to operate independently of a computerized device with all core functions.
The inhaler needs to operate similarly to previous and widely-used inhalers.
Inhaler shall incorporate haptic feedback, auditory feedback, and visual feedback.
The inhaler shall have a built in, collapsible spacer.
There shall be a doctor/health care professional available to answer questions clearly linked through the app.
Final Design
Final App Design
Home Screen.
The home screen gives the user an overview of their treatment. The bottom panel is the navigation and the clock view presents a visual of the treatment plan.
Measurements.
This screen logs all critical patient information like puffs today, rescue inhaler use, peak flow meter reading, and new symptoms.
Messaging.
The messaging service allows all the people involved in the user’s care to communicate with each other.
User Info
This screen gives users access all of the other pertinent information to the use of the inhaler and application.
Home Screen
This screen allows the user to access additional information about the treatment plan and more information at a glance.
Final Prototype Design
Final 3D Print.
This is our final prototype in its docking station for charging. The rubber material on the top is the collapsible spacer used to make sure the user administers a full dose of medication. The magnets help connect the components together such as the peak flow meter, the inhaler, and the spacer.
Spacer.
The spacer is collapsible so it is easily portable for users. Users expressed that they rarely use spacers because they are too bulky. Our solution is much smaller and more convenient.
Docking Station.
The docking station charges and disinfects the inhaler when not in use, stores the peak flow meter, and is a convenient location for the user to always find the inhaler.
Peak Flow Meter.
Peak flow meters can inform a user that they might have an asthma attack several days in advance. By creating a peak flow meter than is easily attachable, users can better manage their conditions, and store the device when not used.
Overview.
The entire device ecosystem exists in this docking station, inhaler, combination. The technology gives the user control of their treatment.
Inhaler.
The inhaler comes with wireless charging, Bluetooth connectivity, speakers, and an LED display for users to always track their asthma needs.
Docking Station.
The docking station houses the peak flow meter (PFM) when not in use. Inside the drawer, there is a UV light to kill any bacteria.
The Design Process
User Research.
Surveys.
We collected 199 responses from four groups (Under 18 with asthma, college students with asthma, parents/caregivers of children with asthma, and healthcare professionals).
Current inhaler successes: dose counters and portability
Opportunities for improvement: difficult to time one’s breathing with dosage, dose counter is not accurate, hard to remember to take the daily doses, and lack of confidence in correct inhaler usage
Interviews.
We spoke with parents of children with asthma and students who had asthma as adolescents about their experiences.
Opportunities for Improvement: too much bureaucracy, poor communication between doctors, parents, and schools, the Asthma Action Plan not standardized, and spacers are inconvenient
User Research Guiding our Design
Conserve aspects of traditional system
Avoid negative transfer of skills Feedback for empty canister
Collapsible spacer for portability
Quick to find Beep/talk/timer to coordinate breaths
App tracks sickness, seasons, air quality, weather, exercise, etc. and give suggestions based on these factors
Direct contact with doctors
Inhaler has full functionality in analog, syncs data when returns
Current asthma ecosystem.
Current asthma ecosystem.
The current asthma ecosystem relies too heavily on proper communication between disparate people, and requires that the young user can reliably follow an asthma action plan.
Problem 1: lack of a plan.
The asthma action plan (AAP) may be out of date which could prevent a user from receiving needed medication while at school, which could lead to hazardous situations.
Problem 2: poor communication.
There are many individuals who must work together for the young user to have proper treatment. There are many barriers to good communication, and when there are issues, the user cannot receive treatment.
Our solution.
Our solution manages communication of the plan to all necessary individuals through the software app interface. There is a direct line of support to parents, doctors, school nurses, and users. In this solution, there will never be a time that the asthma action plan is out of date, or that a party is out of the loop.
Sketches.
Home Screen and Measurements.
In this sketch we started developing our clock information display as well as some of our icons for events on the timeline. In the measurements tab we started prioritizing what information the user needs and in what order.
Home Screen and Navigation.
We sketched out different interfaces for the clock information display as well as different ideas for the home screen. We also modeled our navigation from successful applications.
Communication.
This sketch shows the development of our idea of incorporating lights to communicate with the user.
Spacer.
This sketch shows our concept for including a collapsible spacer and peak flow meter in the design of the product. We wanted it to be packaged together seamlessly.
Joint.
We had many ideas about how to package the inhaler, peak flow meter, and spacer together with a moving folding joint, however we realized for manufacturing and ease of use, we should use magnets to attach and detach parts.
Sketch to Real Life.
We used a collapsible water bottle as a stand-in for the final product that we plan to use as the collapsible spacer. These sketches show the development of the sketch to our next iterations.
Physical Prototype Iterations.
Three iterations.
Left: Foam prototype
Middle: First 3D printed prototype
Right: Final 3D printed prototype
First 3D print.
Left: Inhaler in docking station
Middle: Peak flow meter in dock drawer
Right: Peak flow meter in docking station
Collapsible spacer.
Top: Closed collapsible spacer on front of the inhaler
Bottom: Open collapsible spacer on the inhaler
Fabrication.
Dimensioning
We used our sketches to help shape our foam prototype dimensions.
Foam Prototyping
We used a hot wire to cut the pink foam to see what the possible shape and form could be. We used this foam prototype to dictate our geometry for future iterations.
3D Printing
Using a 3D printer to print all the parts of the inhaler prototype. This print helped us visualize the 3D geometry.