The Health and Wellness Studio, sponsored by Cognizant, aims to explore the potential of design in chronic disease care over the next 10-15 years.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), conditions that affect the body’s muscles, bones and joints. According to World Health Organization:

1.71 Billion people have MSDs conditions worldwide.

115% increase in numbers in 2050

1/2 of Americans over the age of 18 have MSD

Chronic pain and long-term management

MSDs patients often suffer from persistent or recurrent pain, which can significantly impact their daily lives and quality of life, and require ongoing monitoring and treatment. Relevant resources are often not accessible, and long-term management can lead to substantial economic and emotional burdens. We proposed:

How might we re-imagine the future of chronic disease care for Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs)?

Introducing MobiLink...

MobiLink, a wearable device that continuously monitors the user's physical condition, predicts potential risks, and integrates seamlessly with a companion app that offers timely professional consultations via telehealth, empowers long-term management by personalized rehabilitation exercises, and community feature.

Here's a quick video overview I've made to help you grasp the essentials of our project. If the loading fails, please click to open video.

Technological Analysis

In compliance with our sponsor Cognizant’s requirements and our project goal, we started with a focused analysis of existing and emerging healthcare technologies.

Competitive Analysis

We then assesses all products and services targeting MSDs, to understand the strengths and weakness of them and the gaps in the market

White Space Analysis

Drawing insights from our competitive analysis, we proceed to create a white space map, which highlights the gaps in the market where our solution can thrive

Stakeholders

There are three key stakeholders in the MSDs care process: the patients themselves, as well as professionals (including doctors, therapists, etc.) and consultants, who all play an essential role.

MSDs Patient

The focal point of MSDs care, requiring medical attention and support.

Healthcare Pros

Experts that provides medical and therapeutic care for MSDs patients.

Consultant

Specialists that identifies improvements & provides additional support.

Interview

We conducted interview with 4 MSDs patients, 1 healthcare professional (a chiropractor), and 1 consultant from Cognizant, who offered valuable insights related to MSDs.

Need Analysis

Based on the interview, we analyzed the needs of the key stakeholders and identified some common needs.

Before embarking on the design journey, we established a set of design criteria including Must Have, Should Have, and Nice to Have, that would guide our decision-making throughout the process.

Starting with 40 brainstorming concepts, we narrowed them down to 12 through initial feasibility assessments and design criteria evaluation;Then, we further refined the 12 ideas based on refined design criteria, selecting the 6 most promising solutions;Finally, through rigorous testing, iterative design, and functional integration, we arrived at 3 system-level design concepts that best address the needs of MSDs patients.

Competitive Analysis

We then assesses all products and services targeting MSDs, to understand the strengths and weakness of them and the gaps in the market

3 system-level design concepts we arrived at are:

First, we internally evaluated the three concepts based on the design criteria as before. Additionally, we utilized AI-generated storyboards to gather feedback from 8 users. The results and feedback consistently pointed towards concept 2. Therefore, we integrated community and reward features from concepts 3, and named it "MobiLink."

Our final design comprises an app along with a wearable product.

We offer two pricing packages to meet the varying user needs. For those with less severe chronic pain, our Basic plan provides insights into their bodily conditions and helps prevent pain escalation;
For users with more serious conditions, our Premium plan offers comprehensive report analysis and access to telehealth consultations for professional advice.

The wearable product takes various forms depending on the pain and risk area, such as belts, necklaces, wristbands, and so forth. Here, we use the belt as an example to showcase the composition of the physical product.

Technology

The core device of the belt is located at the buckle, which integrates multiple sensors and technologies. The strap part can be replaced according to different needs.

01 Embracing Future Technology

Initially, the prospect of envisioning designs rooted in 10-15 years of technological advancements seemed daunting. However, through a deep dive into the technological trends, the potential of emerging technologies and their ability to transform our products and experiences inspired us to boldly embark on this journey of innovation.

02 Systematic Approach to Concept Evaluation

During the concept evaluation, we initially planned to rely solely on internal discussions to select the most promising concepts. However, Dr. Herb, guided us to employ a more systematic approach that leverages design criteria and benchmarks to make objective and informed decisions. We will continue to utilize this approach in future projects.

03 Leveraging AI to Boost Productivity

We generated sketches including 40 conceptual ideas by MidJourney, which freed up significant time that we could dedicate to concept refinement. Looking forward, we aim to amplify our creative capabilities, and ultimately drive exponential growth in our productivity by leveraging AI in a strategic manner.

01 Iterative Feedback and Product Refinement

Given time constraints of the studio, we conducted a brief user testing session after completing the mid-fi prototype. The initial feedback from users was relatively positive, indicating we are heading in the right direction. However, we recognize the importance of iterative feedback. Given more time, we would conduct additional rounds of testing to gather more insights and enhance our design accordingly.

02 Prioritizing Security in the Wearable Device

As wearable devices involve users' personal information, we have heard numerous concerns regarding potential data breaches during our interactions with users. Therefore, we will prioritize ensuring our product's privacy protection and security, and to ensure our product meets relevant regulations and standards.