project goal
Reimagining the way people on home hemodialysis are treated
how does it work?
Needs two needles where one draws blood through the blood pump, is cleaned by the machine through the dialyzer, and is then returned to the body through the other one.
Blood is constantly flowing for the entire treatment and the patient isn’t allowed to move much to maintain air pressure and blood flow.
what is home hemodialysis?
Hemodialysis is a treatment that removes fluid and waste products from blood when the kidney is unable to. It controls the blood pressure and balances important minerals in the blood.
constraints
“i wish we didn’t have to use needles”
-kristy (dialysis tech)
During my research, I was able to interview a dialysis tech and ask about what issues occurred the most often during treatment for both the caretaker and the patient.
exploring a variety of ways to use needles
refining aesthetics to cater to the patient
The goal is to make the design feel safe, seamless, and easy to use.
the final test
From these final mockups and user reviews, it was shown that the mobility function was intuitive while retaining the desired aesthetic and therefore, became the final design direction.
It was brought up that since treatments last around 2 hours and need to be taken daily, the need to focus on mobility and needle procedure became apparent.
pain points
testing the feel
From the first round of mockup testing, I realized that all of the sizes were a bit too clunky and needed more rearrangements to maximize space while still fitting two needles and tube lines.
back to the drawing board
A redesign of the buttons and functions was needed to smooth out the “removing tube line” feature of the concept. Another mockup was made to test if the new feature was easier to use.
