Illuminate Pressure
A bioluminescent mattress topper that helps detect and prevent pressure sores
Overview
I worked in an interdisciplinary team of 9 students with different backgrounds (Medicine, Design, and Architecture) from the University of Sydney, to change the way pressure sores are identified and prevented.
Role
User Research (Qualitative Analysis, Surveys, Interviews, Affinity Diagrams), Ideation, Storyboards, Personas, Animation
Tools
Adobe InDesign, Adobe Premiere Pro, Miro
Duration
12 weeks
Award
Biodesign Challenge 2020 Finalist
Problem
Eliminating the serious implications of pressure-related injuries, specifically pressure sores, and create a compassionate, user-based solution.
Our vision is to transform and improve the hospital experience, making a less stressful environment for medical professionals and patients through user experience design and bio-design.
Solution
A mattress topper consisting of bioluminescent bacteria in a nutrient fluid housed in a series of semi-permeable walled cells and a photo-sensing layer. These cells react to pressure and glow to show where the most pressure is from the patient.
This aids carers and nurses in their work to prevent the occurrence of pressure sores before they are visible.
In the future we hope to integrate this with artificial intelligence, using data to more accurately predict when and where pressure sores may form.
Design Process
We adopted the design thinking methodology to execute this project. This methodology assisted us in navigating the process of crafting a compelling and thoroughly explored product, from initial research through iterations to the final implementation.
Empathise → Define → Ideate → Prototype → Test
1. Empathising with the user
We aimed to delve into the heart of the issue to devise a thoroughly considered solution. To achieve this, we carried out surveys and interviews, seeking insights from nurses, doctors, and patients' family members regarding their encounters with bedsores.
1 Survey
168 Questions Answered21 Responses from Healthcare Professionals9 Interviews
8 Hospital Workers2 Family Members of Affected Patients2. Defining the problem
From our user research, 3 key themes were extracted that had the largest impact on how our problem was defined:
1. Current prevention strategies include physical movement and visual assessment
When interviewing nurses we found that the most current and common strategy for prevention was visual assessment, stating that they “will be looking for redness because that's the first sign of a pressure sore”.
2. Pressure sores rarely increase in severity but it does happen
It was discovered that once a pressure sore is discovered by a nurse, very rarely does it get worse, with one nurse saying “It’s very rare for us to get pressure injuries that go from grade two to grade three they usually go from grade two to grade one.
3. Variance in nurse ability can frustrate co-workers and lessen the quality of care
This aspect became a key finding, integral to our design, as many nurses stated that a lack of sufficient communication resulted in a decrease in quality. From the user data gathered, one nurse stated that there were sores that were “not actually new because nobody's documented it."
Problem Statement
“Pressure ulcers are difficult for nurses and doctors to identify, prevent, and manage due to the fast-paced nature of their profession and environment.”
User Personas
Personas were formed to gain a better understanding of our targeted audience as well as their age group, pain points, users' needs, experiences, behaviours, and goals.
3. Ideating solutions
With our group comprising 10 members, we organised a brainwriting session. Each member quickly noted down an innovative and creative concept related to our problem statement. We allocated 2 minutes for each round of rotation, allowing members to build upon the previous concept. This process led to nine rounds of deeply iterated ideas, culminating in our final fleshed-out design of a bio-luminescent pressure sensor-based sheet.
4. Prototyping the concept
Through conducting a competitor analysis, our team was able to effectively identify both the strengths and weaknesses of our product and determine themes that helped define the problem. This valuable insight led us to brainstorm and prioritise areas that required further attention to foster growth.
1. Visibility of system status
Keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within a reasonable time. (Nielsen, 1994)
2. Match between system and real-world
Speak the users' language, with words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order. (Nielsen, 1994)
3. Aesthetic and minimalist design
Dialogues should not contain information that is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility. (Nielsen, 1994). The interface includes a simplistic design featuring a colour scale to represent affected areas.
Storyboards
I created the storyboards to visualise the process of our product’s user journey.
User Journey Mapping
A user journey map was created to consider and outline the impact our design would have on the user experience.
We identified that a pain point for all stakeholders within the prevention stage is regular visual assessment and movement of patients. There is no change within the treatment stage of the journey, as although treatment can be difficult, we found that once a sore had been identified - it rarely worsened - making it a generally less stressful aspect of the experience
Our Product Design
How our product works:
The semipermeable membrane acts as a nano-filter allowing water through, but not the bacteria. When pressure is applied to the cells, water flows out, condensing the population of bacteria and producing a visible ‘glow’. This can also be measured by a photo-sensitive layer.
In the future we hope to integrate this with artificial intelligence, using data to more accurately predict when and where pressure sores may form.
Technology behind the design
I worked with another team member in creating graphics and visual elements for the video of the project.
Mattress design
Software UI
5. Testing & Evaluation
Due to the wide-scale impacts of COVID-19 during this period, the fabrication and testing of our product could not be conducted. However, should the development of our product advance, the following factors should be carefully considered moving forward. Creating mockups based on user research, interviews conducted, secondary research, and competitor analysis to create an ideal wireframe state of the product page. This included written briefs for handover to XD and the product team to gain a better understanding of the project scope.
Comfort
Comfort remains one of our primary concerns in our mission to improve the patient experience. Our product should not compromise comfort in any way in its function to detect pressure sores and should be viewed as a preferable product in these terms.
Materials
The materials used to construct our product have not been entirely decided, however, we should strive for more eco-friendly, cheaper options, to avoid creating more waste for hospitals as well as being accessible to as many people as possible. These materials should also be acceptable within the health and safety regulations in hospitals, as well as acquired through ethical means.
Stigma
It is possible and perhaps highly likely that patients may be averse to the idea of sleeping on top of a layer of live, functioning bacteria, creating mental discomfort and distress. Much care should be taken in the product’s advertising and appearance to avoid this.
Key learnings from this project
Time management
Meeting specific deadlines for the competition
Hybrid Working
Gaining valuable online collaborative skills while working completely remotely on the project
Multidisciplinary collaboration
Gaining an insight into science and architecture by collaborating with students from other faculties. Learning that design can be combined with any degree/area.