App Design
The TRIGGR app is a student assignment for the Google UX/UI Certificate. It is designed to track food and lifestyle data and match it to flare-ups from food allergies, autoimmune disorders, and other chronic illnesses.
The Problem
Autoimmune illnesses in the U.S. have increased five fold since 1990. Over 20 million U.S. adults and children (around 6%) suffer from food allergies. In addition, dozens of other chronic illnesses are exacerbated by food and drink intake, exercise, sleep, and other triggers. Often, patients spend days, weeks, and months trying to pinpoint the cause of a flare-up so they can avoid it in the future.
The Question
Would an app that tracked food, movement, and other factors help to identify individual food triggers that led to rashes, insomnia, headaches, exhaustion, and hundreds of other symptoms? Would patients find it useful?
How many Americans suffer with chronic allergies and immune disorders?
Help me understand your daily life with a chronic illness…
To understand and empathize with potential users of the app, I developed a series of questions concerning the kinds of illnesses they have, what triggers them, and how they respond.
These questions were emailed to friends I know have chronic illnesses as well as posted on Facebook groups that focus on autoimmune disorders.
The responses were eye-opening. Most participants answered that they were adults before being diagnosed. Either their chronic illness or allergy wasn’t present in childhood or it was undetected.
They reported all sorts of possible triggers, from fish (allergy) to ibuprofen (allergy accompanying a connective tissue disorder) to sun exposure (lupus) to oranges (histamine intolerance due to medication).
The symptoms caused by their triggers were widely varied as well. One woman believes that dairy causes her adult acne. Another woman was having unexplained hives and difficulty breathing that she later discovered was from ibuprofen.
Participants universally said that they immediately go to the internet for information about their conditions. Unfortunately they often find the answers vague or conflicting, which is one reason these illnesses are hard to diagnose.
The most frustrating thing about having illnesses triggered by unknown sources, the participants said, is that they would happily avoid foods or activities they love to avoid the symptom—if they only knew what to avoid.
“I don’t know where to start…”
Participants reported being scared that too much of a trigger food could be dangerous to them.
They also feared that having sensitivities caused others to see them differently or not invite them to events.
They mostly expressed that they would try to cut out contact with any substance that affected them, but can’t pinpoint it. It’s not unwillingness to avoid a trigger, but overwhelm and uncertainty about what the problem is.
Avatars of Potential Users
Problem Statement
Camden is a 35-year-old Black man with Crohn’s Disease. He needs to record his food intake to find triggers that can put him in the hospital.
Problem Statement
Catherine is a 48-year-old White woman who needs to figure out what’s triggering her autoimmune symptoms so she can date and find a job.
Problem Statement
Shelley is a 51-year-old White woman who needs to find out if food, drink, or other factors trigger manic or depressive episodes in her bipolar disorder.
Insights from Potential User Interviews
1.
Users must be able to input any possible trigger, not just common ones.
2.
When dealing with flare-ups, patients often have low energy and focus so the app must be simple and intuitive.
3.
The app must pull from user data to make connections where a Google search fails.
Initial Wireframe Sketches
Preliminary Lo-Fi Layout
The Lo-Fi Study
I shared my lo-fi designs with 5 participants, using a script to streamline the process and ensure a uniform delivery.
Lo-Fi Usability Test Script and Outcome (Click to view PDF)
“If I had this app, I would check it every day! I would end up with too many pets because I wouldn’t stop!”
—Michele, study participant
Insights from the Feasibility Study
Participants pointed out some dead ends in the app flow where Back buttons were needed.
They were also concerned about privacy in the Community and Profile tabs.
The asked whether the favorited pets would disappear from the Favorites tab once they were adopted.
Concerns are being ranked and addressed in the next round of changes.
Design Inspiration
My idea was to design an app that allowed a person with a chronic illness to become an explorer to find out what triggered their symptoms. The theme of space exploration was exciting to me. I wanted to use jewel tones and dreamy space imagery to create a beautiful interface and experience.
Hi-Fidelity Mock-Up
Hi-Fidelity Prototype
Web Design
See the evolution of the proposed website here.
Logo Design
See the evolution of the SnoutScout logo here.
