A medical reminder that fits
into a teenager's actual life.

The Problem

Teenagers with chronic illnesses — diabetes, Crohn's, lupus, and others — frequently miss medication schedules. Existing reminder apps treat this as a notification problem. It isn't. It's a social identity problem: teens skip medication because taking it interrupts who they're trying to be in front of their peers.

Design Approach

Research was conducted through interviews with teens managing chronic conditions and their caregivers. The central insight was that effective reminders need to work with a teen's social context — not against it. The design explored discreet notification patterns, caregiver visibility controls, and motivation mechanics built around social norms rather than clinical compliance.

Persona development and journey mapping surfaced the specific moments where adherence failed and why. Low- and high-fidelity prototypes were iterated through usability testing with the target population.

Key Design Decisions

Caregiver transparency was designed as a spectrum, not a binary — teens could choose how much visibility their parents had, which shifted the relationship from surveillance to shared accountability. Reminder triggers were contextual rather than time-based, accommodating the unpredictability of a teenager's schedule.

Skills Applied

User Research · Persona Development · Journey Mapping · Wireframing · Prototyping · Usability Testing