The Smart Pill-Tracking Product for the Elderly
Currently, many elderly face problems when taking their prescribed medication. Whether it is keeping track of their medication intake, refilling their medication, or remembering to take their medication on time, elderly people face many problems that many people do not realize. LIFA aims to address those issues, revolutionizing the way elderly people take their pills.
Project by Kevin Li, Sylvain Faraud, Shijing Li
Completed at Imperial College London
THE PROBLEM
Medical non-adherence occurs when a patient does not take medication properly. This is a problem faced many people of all year groups, but has been proven to be more difficult for elderly due to poorer memory and physical inconveniences.
USER RESEARCH
Extensive user research was carried out using a combination of in-person and remote interviews and questionnaires. A visit to an elderly community center in Hammersmith London was also made in gathering further user data.
I take 14 pills a day, 13 in the morning, and 1 in the evening.
Sometimes, I lose track of which pills I have prepared in my dish and will need to use a magnifying glass to distinguish them.
User at Age UK Hammersmith and Fulham
OBSERVATIONS
Through the user research conducted, various observations were made regarding how elderly people take their medication. Various painpoints have also been recorded.
IDEATION
With the user data, various different concepts were created. Low-fidelity prototypes were created.
INITIAL USER TESTING
Further amendments were made to the design with feedback from user testing. These included: a more effective reminder feature; a more automated design; and a better method to label pills.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
Various developed designs and concepts were created in response to the user-feedback.
FINAL DESIGN AND MECHANISM
The design and mechanism have been refined after rounds of ideation and testing.