Context
Background
InsuFlo is an affordable insulin pump for people with diabetes. An insulin pump is a medical device that delivers predefined doses of insulin through subcutaneous method from a reservoir or cartridge. It is important that the design of such a medical device is human-centric, efficient and prioritises the patient’s safety.
My role
My role was to conduct extensive research, design and subsequently test the designs made of the interface of an affordable insulin pump being developed by InsuFlo's team.
Research methodology
Insulin pump architecture and design are crucial for therapeutic efficacy and safety since they come in direct contact with patients. It is important to regularly interact with patients and consider their user experience at different stages of device development. Thus, a 'user-in-the-loop' approach to Engineering Design (UILED) was adopted which emphasises the direct involvement of stakeholders and prioritises an iterative approach to design.
My impact
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I designed the interface of the insulin pump which included the keypad and 400+ screens within a short period, collaborating with a cross-functional team across all stages, from research, design, to testing and evaluation.
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I built the design system, conducted stakeholder research (through extensive interviews and surveys), and designed and prototyped the scalable interface using Figma and Adobe creative suite.
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I created and delivered designs backed by evidence, extensive research and evaluation to be implemented on a large scale in the affordable insulin pump.
Experience
This opportunity allowed me to implement my existing knowledge about design methodologies, experiment and learn new things, meet immensely talented people, and also provided me with the opportunity to take decisions about crucial aspects of the design of the insulin pump. I learned a lot about diabetes and how it affects people's lives and have grown as a researcher and designer from this experience.
Learnings
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I learnt that communicating regularly with other members on the team is crucial. Regular meetings outlining the progress of each member's tasks was highly beneficial in understanding the overall timeline and status of the project.
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Setting weekly task lists and an overall timeline of the project helped track my current progress and understand which tasks to prioritise and complete.
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I also understood how to broach sensitive topics such as diabetes with patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals during interviews and learnt a lot about the overall design process by implementing it during the entire project.
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Working on a device which improves the lives of people was an honour and understanding the implications of design in a device which supports life was a crucial learning from this project.