Hashimoto's Symptom Trackerfor iOS
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My Role UX/UI Design and Research
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Goal To help those suffering with Hashimoto's log symptoms and discover new healing paths.
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Placement & Layout Design
Sketching & Testing Initial Prototyping
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Paper Prototype
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Site Map
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Card Sorting
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Key Screen Refresh
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Screen Flows
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Synthesizing Research Into a Design Strategy
Project Proposal Overall Objectives
The hashimoto’s Tracking app is designed to easily allow Hashimoto’s sufferers to log their symptoms, share their symptom trends, and discover new healing options.
Problem We Are Solving
Currently, few track their symptoms as the current tracking apps on the market are cumbersome and/or incomplete. Many offer little to no help. Attempts to physically journal symptoms has failed due to lack of interest in carrying around a physical notebook.
User Goals We’re Making Possible
Hashimoto’s sufferers are exhausted, overwhelmed, and not finding answers about their condition. They are living day by day, depressed, but with hope that symptoms will subside. They are not finding much help from doctors who prescribe them thyroid medication, but offer little more insight or help.
They want to track symptoms, but it needs to be convenient as everything can feel like a hassle when you’re tired. They need to be able to track many aspects of their life due to the ubiquitous nature of their illness in order to get a full picture of their condition. They continue to take medication, but want to be free from it.
Target AudienceOur target audience is predominantly female, 30-50, any marital status.
MVP
The MVP is a smart tracker that interprets data visually for the user. User can view, adjust, and share data easily. They have a profile space to log in details specific to them such as, age, height, and weight. Smart suggestions are our key feature, it’s what makes our app completely different than the competition. We’re doing the research FOR our users and presenting it to them in specific-to-them and easy to understand suggestions.
FEATURES
Tutorial - help users navigate the functionality of the app
Help - Ability to email us if needed
Profile - For all of their personal data
Calendar - A quick visual summary of their symptoms
Log - Where they add new data
Symptom / Mood Tracker - The main feature of the app
Vitals Tracker - Missing from a lot of tracking apps, this allows our users to keep track of their vital s and compare them to symptoms
Medication / Supplement Tracker - Also missing from a lot of trackers, users are on varied cocktails of medications and supplements that all affect their overall health
Visual Data - Another key aspect, imperative for displaying data in a more digestible and interactive manner
Share Reports / Data - What good is information if you can’t share it? This feature gives our users the ability to share their data with anyone they choose. Making doctor’s visits much more informative.
Smart Suggestions - Smart suggestions are our user’s best friend. They are data collected by the user database, put into plain english, as helpful hints as to how the use can improve their symptoms. This feature is not found in any other thyroid tracking app.
Constraints
Prioritized Features
Tutorial - This feature will walk new users through the main features of the app. This is important to familiarize those new to the app.
Help - Ability to email us any questions. This is important because we need to know if a feature is broken or if the design is not intuitive and functional.
Profile - This feature is where you can control your settings, see your symptom history, add in any personal data. This is important because the user needs a home base to store this vital information.
Calendar - This is helpful for the user to see what days they have logged. It will be color coded so it will become another valuable piece of visual data, showing, at a glance, good days and bad. This will allow the user to see quickly when they last had a healthy or hurtful day.
Log - This option allows users to log their data. It is vital to the project. Without that option, they would not be able to use this app.
Symptom / Mood Tracker - This feature allows the user to track their mood. This is important because depression is often a side effect of Hashimoto’s. It can help to see if the down days correlate with autoimmune flare ups, helping to see that it is a symptom or if not, something that needs added attention.
Vitals Tracker - Track blood pressure, labs, etc. This is important so the user has a history of the physical data pertaining to their body.
Medication / Supplement Tracker - Medications vary in strength and effectiveness. Tracking that can shed light as to whether or not the user is taking the appropriate dosage of medication type. Supplements are vital for healing as many with Hashimoto’s have gut issues disrupting their ability to absorb nutrients. Tracking these supplements could reveal trends of improvement or suffering depending on user's actions/body chemistry.
Visual Data - This feature show the user various ways to see their data. It can bring about unexpected insights. This is helpful not only for the user’s knowledge base, but their doctor’s as well.
Share Reports / Data - Ability to email, text, and share this data with doctors, friends, family, etc. This is important because this data has the ability to give great insight into the user’s health, improvements, and flare ups.
Smart Suggestions - This is the feature that sets us apart from all the other thyroid tracking apps in the market. It learns from the user and user community to find healing solutions and suggest them to the user as they document their symptoms.
Problem We Are Solving
Currently, few track their symptoms as the current tracking apps on the market are cumbersome and/or incomplete. Many offer little to no help. Attempts to physically journal symptoms has failed due to lack of interest in carrying around a physical notebook.
User Goals We’re Making Possible
- Educating sufferers with smart suggestions
- Providing insight with easy to digest visual data
- Accurate and consistent symptom tracking
Hashimoto’s sufferers are exhausted, overwhelmed, and not finding answers about their condition. They are living day by day, depressed, but with hope that symptoms will subside. They are not finding much help from doctors who prescribe them thyroid medication, but offer little more insight or help.
They want to track symptoms, but it needs to be convenient as everything can feel like a hassle when you’re tired. They need to be able to track many aspects of their life due to the ubiquitous nature of their illness in order to get a full picture of their condition. They continue to take medication, but want to be free from it.
Target AudienceOur target audience is predominantly female, 30-50, any marital status.
MVP
The MVP is a smart tracker that interprets data visually for the user. User can view, adjust, and share data easily. They have a profile space to log in details specific to them such as, age, height, and weight. Smart suggestions are our key feature, it’s what makes our app completely different than the competition. We’re doing the research FOR our users and presenting it to them in specific-to-them and easy to understand suggestions.
FEATURES
Tutorial - help users navigate the functionality of the app
Help - Ability to email us if needed
Profile - For all of their personal data
Calendar - A quick visual summary of their symptoms
Log - Where they add new data
Symptom / Mood Tracker - The main feature of the app
Vitals Tracker - Missing from a lot of tracking apps, this allows our users to keep track of their vital s and compare them to symptoms
Medication / Supplement Tracker - Also missing from a lot of trackers, users are on varied cocktails of medications and supplements that all affect their overall health
Visual Data - Another key aspect, imperative for displaying data in a more digestible and interactive manner
Share Reports / Data - What good is information if you can’t share it? This feature gives our users the ability to share their data with anyone they choose. Making doctor’s visits much more informative.
Smart Suggestions - Smart suggestions are our user’s best friend. They are data collected by the user database, put into plain english, as helpful hints as to how the use can improve their symptoms. This feature is not found in any other thyroid tracking app.
Constraints
- Budget
- Data Management
Prioritized Features
Tutorial - This feature will walk new users through the main features of the app. This is important to familiarize those new to the app.
Help - Ability to email us any questions. This is important because we need to know if a feature is broken or if the design is not intuitive and functional.
Profile - This feature is where you can control your settings, see your symptom history, add in any personal data. This is important because the user needs a home base to store this vital information.
Calendar - This is helpful for the user to see what days they have logged. It will be color coded so it will become another valuable piece of visual data, showing, at a glance, good days and bad. This will allow the user to see quickly when they last had a healthy or hurtful day.
Log - This option allows users to log their data. It is vital to the project. Without that option, they would not be able to use this app.
Symptom / Mood Tracker - This feature allows the user to track their mood. This is important because depression is often a side effect of Hashimoto’s. It can help to see if the down days correlate with autoimmune flare ups, helping to see that it is a symptom or if not, something that needs added attention.
Vitals Tracker - Track blood pressure, labs, etc. This is important so the user has a history of the physical data pertaining to their body.
Medication / Supplement Tracker - Medications vary in strength and effectiveness. Tracking that can shed light as to whether or not the user is taking the appropriate dosage of medication type. Supplements are vital for healing as many with Hashimoto’s have gut issues disrupting their ability to absorb nutrients. Tracking these supplements could reveal trends of improvement or suffering depending on user's actions/body chemistry.
Visual Data - This feature show the user various ways to see their data. It can bring about unexpected insights. This is helpful not only for the user’s knowledge base, but their doctor’s as well.
Share Reports / Data - Ability to email, text, and share this data with doctors, friends, family, etc. This is important because this data has the ability to give great insight into the user’s health, improvements, and flare ups.
Smart Suggestions - This is the feature that sets us apart from all the other thyroid tracking apps in the market. It learns from the user and user community to find healing solutions and suggest them to the user as they document their symptoms.
User Flows
Affinity Mapping
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User Personas
How Might We Exercises
How might we make symptom tracking fun?
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Good Ideas
Narrowing down good ideas can sometimes be struggle so, to get myself thinking, I made a list of bad ideas first.
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Bad Ideas
Creating a list of impossible/bad ideas helps get the creative juices flowing and can actually inspire good ideas.
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Primary GoalHelp Hannah relieve symptoms of Hashimoto’s by tracking and comparing data.
Features
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Storyboarding
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Prioritizing Features
Two by Two Matrix
UX Discovery Process
Research Plan
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Qualitative:
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Quantitative:
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Research Goals
- Learn about current tracking styles.
- What is working and what is not working from that current process.
- What people are interested in tracking.
- How many people in the US are currently suffering from this disease and their demographics.
- What tracking apps already exist, how they function, how successful that functionality is, and how they are monetized.
Target Audience
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People already diagnosed with Hashimoto’s
I plan on reaching them through my youtube channel with videos about Hashimoto’s, my website about hashimoto’s with free onesheets, guides, ebooks, etc, and buying targeted google and facebook ads as needed. |
The 95% of people diagnosed with Hypothyroidism that actually have Hashimoto’s but are not aware of it.
I plan on reaching them through my youtube channel with videos about Hashimoto’s, my website about hashimoto’s with free onesheets, guides, ebooks, etc, and buying targeted google and facebook ads as needed. |
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Key areas of inquiry:
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Hypotheses around your target audience
I think they are exhausted, they either research sporadically or not very much at all. They want to feel better but are overwhelmed by the amount of information they find. They take their thyroid meds, have a little more energy so are able to function, but don’t feel like themselves. They receive the same stale answers from their doctors. They move through life in a half alive fog, performing the required functions expected of them, but struggle with depression, exhaustion, and physical pain. |
Interviews
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Interview 1
Time 24 Minutes Gender Female What’s your age? 57 What’s your profession? Homemaker How did you first learn or hear about Hashimoto’s? From my daughter. How old were you when you first felt the symptoms of Hashimoto’s? 36 How old were you when first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s? 56 What are your current hashimoto’s symptoms?
How are you currently keeping track of your symptoms? I’m not. I just take my thyroid pill and hope it all works out, ignore it. What do you like about it? N/A What don’t you like about it? N/A If using app(s), which one(s)? N/A Do you know of anyone else tracking their Hashimoto’s symptoms? No If yes, how are they keeping track of their symptoms? N/A When you first starting noticing symptoms, what did you think was happening with your health? I thought I had cancer. I thought I had something that was killing me. It was that bad. Would you have thought you had Hashimoto’s? No, I had never heard of it. i didn’t know what was going on. I tell the doctor what’s I’m going through, they don’t care. I want answers so I can get off meds, oh well. How do you feel day to day? Try to make it a good day, sleep a little better, move in a fog and keep going, struggle, no reason to be depressed, but feel guilty and cry. Feel guilty whenever I eat. Go to get out of bed in the morning, exhausted, yet at the end of the day, collapse in bed but can’t sleep. I think, today could be my last day, so make the best of it. it’d be nice to enjoy food and life. there are people who can eat whatever they want. They can have a croissant, a bagel. They can eat at any restaurant and they’re fine. They aren’t worried about getting out of the restaurant fast so they don’t shit themselves in public. What colors make you feel happy? I never liked red until 8 years ago. I had a red car, I loved that car. i like red now. I like blues. Not as much as reds though. I hate greens. My mom always loved green, I think that’s why I hate it. What kinds of food do you eat? Oatmeal, grilled chicken / Fish, Lots of veggies. Do you spend time researching Hashimoto’s? No Why? Just trying to get on with my life. I pop around in books my daughter’s sent me from time to time. i never read them front to back. I probably should. If yes, how many hours of the week? N/A How often do you poop? I get constipated from travel. It used to be either diarrhea or constipation. I’m taking a probiotic now, so that helps. Now, I poop every other day, no diarrhea. What is your worst experience with Hashimoto's have you had so far? That’s a hard question to answer. I don’t know. I don’t like losing my eyebrows. I don’t like having digestive problems, pain, and bloating. Why do you think you have Hashimoto’s? I wish I knew. Hereditary? Someone once told me Iron deficiency, but always thought that was just anemia. What does healthy mean to you? Not being overweight. Not being labeled as obese. A glow to my skin, muscular. Being able to go for walks, ride bikes, feel good. What do you see as a healthy lifestyle? Eating right, exercising, a glass of wine or two, haha, I think that should count as healthy. Eating right = Lots of veggies, try to have 1 piece of fruit a day because it’s still sugar you know. Grilled chicken and fish, gluten free oats. What do you think about a point reward system? For example, you track your symptoms for 7 days in a row to earn a badge. 30 days would be a different badge, and so on. That’s something I would try, but earning badges doesn’t mean a lot to me. but, It would help if the badges came with helpful tips to help with my digestion or things like that. That would be more rewarding to me. |
Interview 2
Time 21 minutes Gender Male What’s your age? 34 What’s your profession? Data Analyst How did you first learn or hear about Hashimoto’s? I was being treated for depression. I had been on and off of antidepressants for awhile. My psychologist said, we were testing a lot, she said, let's do a thyroid panel. That’s how I found out there was something wrong with my thyroid. I was put on thyroid medication after that and got a lot better. How old were you when you first felt the symptoms of Hashimoto’s? 31 or 2 or so. Then I started to do a lot of research. How old were you when first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s? Same age. What are your current Hashimoto’s symptoms?
How are you currently keeping track of your symptoms? I’m not. I take it day by day. If I feel something is wrong, I know now it’s my thyroid, so I take it day by day and work on that symptom. I keep meaning to keep keep track, it’s hard. I have a hashimoto’s journal. But carrying it around is a hassle. What do you like about it? N/A What don’t you like about it? N/A If using app(s), which one(s)? N/A Do you know of anyone else tracking their Hashimoto’s symptoms? No If yes, how are they keeping track of their symptoms? N/A When you first starting noticing symptoms, what did you think was happening with your health? I thought it was mental and the physical symptoms were psychosomatic. I thought I was having a severe depressive episode. The long periods of sleep, the weight gain. i thought they were from depression. Would you have thought you had Hashimoto’s? No, I wasn’t even aware of it. even though my mom has hashimoto’s as well. Would you have thought you had thyroid issues? I’m not educated in biology, I didn’t even know what the thyroid did. How do you feel day to day? Variable. Somedays I’m functional, other days I hit a real low point. I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong. What colors make you feel happy? I like yellow and grey, copper shades too. What kinds of food do you eat? Mainly dense leafy greens and other green vegetables. Protein. I eat some fish and chicken. I’m trying to eat less meat but that’s hard. I avoid gluten and carbs as well. Do you spend time researching Hashimoto’s? Yes If yes, how many hours of the week? Between 1 and 2 hours a week. How often do you poop? Once a day, sometimes twice. I eat psyllium husk every morning so it varies. What is your worst experience with Hashimoto's have you had so far? I had um, a change in prescription. My blood tests showed I needed a higher dose, so they switched my meds. I didn’t read the label correctly. I was taking two pills a day instead of one. I ended up in a near thyroid storm. I had to get an EKG done, my skin was red. It was scary. Why do you think you have Hashimoto’s? Probably hereditary. It could be lifestyle as well. My mom has it. What does healthy mean to you? You’re able to carry out tasks daily without problems. Be able to stay active regularly. Maintain a desired level of fitness. What do you see as a healthy lifestyle? One that involves eating a balanced diet, maintaining a level of fitness with a minimal impact on the environment. make sure mental health is where it should be as well. Keeping track of everything is important and something I don’t do. What do you think about a point reward system? For example, you track your symptoms for 7 days in a row to earn a badge. 30 days would be a different badge, and so on. That’s a great idea. Healing Hashimoto’s is not an immediate reward. I think it’s a good strategy. |
Discussion Guide
Thank you so much for agreeing to talk to me today, I really appreciate it. A little about me, my name’s Dana, I’m a design researcher and what I’m interested in hearing about today is your Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and your Hashimoto’s symptom tracking experience. How you feel day to day, what’s working with tracking your symptoms and what isn’t working. And, of course, everything we talk about today is confidential and won’t be shared with anyone outside of our internal research team.
Do you have any questions before we start?
Do you mind if I record our conversation for my own notes?
What’s your name?
And, your age?
What’s your profession?
How did you first learn or hear about Hashimoto’s?
How old were you when you first felt the symptoms of Hashimoto’s?
How old were you when first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s?
What are your current Hashimoto’s symptoms?
How are you currently keeping track of your symptoms?
What do you like about it?
What don’t you like about it?
If using app(s), which one(s)?
Do you know of anyone else tracking their Hashimoto’s symptoms?
If yes, how are they keeping track of their symptoms?
When you first starting noticing symptoms, what did you think was happening with your health?
Would you have thought you had Hashimoto’s?
How do you feel day to day?
What colors make you feel happy?
What kinds of food do you eat?
Do you spend time researching Hashimoto’s?
If yes, how many hours of the week?
How often do you poop?
What is your worst experience with Hashimoto's have you had so far?
Why do you think you have Hashimoto’s?
What does healthy mean to you?
What do you see as a healthy lifestyle?
What do you think about a point reward system? For example, you track your symptoms for 7 days in a row to earn a badge. 30 days would be a different badge, and so on.
Do you mind if I record our conversation for my own notes?
What’s your name?
And, your age?
What’s your profession?
How did you first learn or hear about Hashimoto’s?
How old were you when you first felt the symptoms of Hashimoto’s?
How old were you when first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s?
What are your current Hashimoto’s symptoms?
How are you currently keeping track of your symptoms?
What do you like about it?
What don’t you like about it?
If using app(s), which one(s)?
Do you know of anyone else tracking their Hashimoto’s symptoms?
If yes, how are they keeping track of their symptoms?
When you first starting noticing symptoms, what did you think was happening with your health?
Would you have thought you had Hashimoto’s?
How do you feel day to day?
What colors make you feel happy?
What kinds of food do you eat?
Do you spend time researching Hashimoto’s?
If yes, how many hours of the week?
How often do you poop?
What is your worst experience with Hashimoto's have you had so far?
Why do you think you have Hashimoto’s?
What does healthy mean to you?
What do you see as a healthy lifestyle?
What do you think about a point reward system? For example, you track your symptoms for 7 days in a row to earn a badge. 30 days would be a different badge, and so on.
Feature Inventory
Direct Competitor's UI Screenshots
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