SMARTCLOTH Prototype for Dietary Management in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus: Tutorial on Human-Centered Design...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Diabetes Management

Background:

• Global rise in diabetes mellitus necessitates improved nutritional management.
• Poor adherence to dietary recommendations is a significant challenge.
• User-centered digital health interventions can enhance adherence by meeting patient needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• Provide replicable guidance on applying design thinking to healthcare hardware.
• Illustrate the process through the development of SMARTCLOTH, a smart tablecloth prototype.
• Support adherence to nutritional recommendations for individuals with diabetes.

Main Methods:

• Employed the Double Diamond model for systematic design thinking.
• Conducted user research (interviews, focus groups) to define needs and functionalities.
• Developed and iteratively tested low- and high-fidelity prototypes with usability metrics.

Main Results:

• Identified three key user profiles (adolescents, working adults, older adults) with distinct needs.
• Iterative testing revealed an intuitive system with improved usability over 15 internal versions and 3 prototypes.
• Quantitative data showed task completion times under 1 minute for simple tasks; qualitative feedback highlighted clarity and motivational potential, with specific requests for accessibility features.

Conclusions:

• Systematic human-centered design yields feasible and well-accepted digital health hardware.
• SMARTCLOTH shows promise as a dietary management tool for diabetes.
• The demonstrated methodology is adaptable for developing hardware for chronic disease management.