the glucowatch

A design to address the need for folks with Type 1 Diabetes to self-manage their disease; designed in INSC 541 at the University of Washington iSchool.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• glucowatch
• blood glucose
• glucometer
• diabetes

[tkriplean]

Targeted very well. Clearly you know your audience enough to strip out everything but the most salient.

Would have liked a clearer transition to solution. Maybe coloring the watch would have helped introduce it. Or inverting the colors at that time.

Also, unclear about what technology could actually make this a reality - but I also know that wasn't a requirement for making the design :-)

[cortneyaleach]

@tkriplean I totally struggled over introducing the actual sensor technology behind the design or no - it was a rough decision to just go with the user experience. Great comment!

[cortneyaleach]

Perhaps not a good idea to broadcast this, but I had a really hard time balancing the pluses/minuses of the Ken Burns effect! I started using it for solid focusing reasons, but then I couldn't decide when to stop! Because, well, when you start using it, you'd better make sure there's a clear reason to stop using it. But I totally over Ken Burnsed. Sigh. The design is never done...

[theoldestmerrill]

Best thing: It was easy for me to understand why the glucowatch would be beneficial, even though I don't know much about dealing with diabetes. It is something that I would definitely recommend to a friend because it clearly overcomes so many hurdles.

Improvement: Reserve the zooming for effect of important things - like when you want to emphasize that a regular glucometer hurts, zoom on the blood instead of panning past it.

~Michelle

[jaredpariah]

Pros: Nice music and it obviously a useful idea

Cons: The drawing were not that clear, so it was hard to follow some of your ideas. Using live actors with mock ups of the system would have improved it.

[crhickerson]

The motivation behind and advantages to the device were really clear. Your use of the Ken Burns effect was a bit distracting, though. Ordinarily, Ken Burns' uses his eponymous effect with a detailed photograph, focusing on parts of the photograph to reinforce a voice over. The effect tended to obscure the effect of your drawings; however, if you had used photographs instead, it would have been much clearer.

[Mikaly001]

+: Very clear problem and solution, even though I don't know too much about Type I diabetes myself. Elegant solution that is demonstrated very well.

-: Constant panning may be distracting for some users. It would have been nice to get a good, clear, zoomed view of the watch and all the features displayed. Might be clearer to add something like "buzz buzz" to make it clearer @0:57.

[dollworks]

- Silvia

[dollworks]

Best thing: The video is very effective. It conveys all the relevant issues and doesn't get bogged down with the details. Even someone who has no experience with Type 1 diabetes can quickly and easily grasp the problem, the solution, and why your solution is particularly good. Very elegant!

Improvement: I don't understand what the shots at 0:08-0:16 are showing, other than a general idea of implements for testing blood sugar.

[JimmieHilltop]

Best: It was to the point and really targeted the audience. The repeating message that you just know worked really well. The storyboard was lighthearted and the zombies were awesome!

Improvement: At times the pace could have been just a tad slower, and there could have been a lot less moving of the slides. The constant moving made it hard at times to actually see what was sketched. - Jasper

[JamesRosenzweig]

Best: There's a strong connection with the audience -- you don't waste time explaining things like a glucometer because they know already, which I think builds confidence.

Improvement: I wish that you had taken a little more time to do more explanation later in the video -- you rushed things like why there's a watch on the glucowatch, and I worry that sometimes the important features you've really thought through aren't making it into the audience's heads.