GlucoGuardian
A mobile application created to address care disparities for diabetics of color.
Summary; TLDR
MelaninMD is a healthcare startup aiming to bridge the longstanding gap in healthcare accessibility and representation, particularly for people of color. I designed an interactive prototype guided by four major research findings.
Understanding the Foundation
Why GlucoGuardian?
GlucoGuardian co-founder, Lydia, talks about an inflection point in her life, when she realized that the dietary information of her staple cultural foods, basmati rice, wasn’t included on the diabetes management app one of her family members was using. While diabetes management apps have the dietary info of many foods, certain Indian foods weren’t available, and it struck Lydia that this is likely an experience that diabetics regularly have, in particular people of color.
Lydia and her cofounder, Archie, both come from a healthcare background. They observed on a daily basis how diabetes care isn’t inclusive, and doesn’t address the challenges that people of color face when trying to manage their diabetes, so they set out to address the problem, creating GlucoGuardian.
GlucoGuardian’s Users
Competitive Audit
Diabetes Apps like Sugar Control Diary, SugarBot, and Sugar Calculator try to meet the food tracking needs of the user, but don’t connect with a continuous glucose monitor, the other most important feature of a diabetes management app. This leaves diabetics using two different apps, one to track food (often without inclusive options) and one to connect with their CGM — not ideal.
Deep Dive Research
Ok so, we needed a diabetes management app that has all data kept in one place. But we also needed to take it a step further to also get at the core of addressing the core of inclusivity of diabetes management. To get the lay of the land, I did research into the landscape of how social determinants of health affect diabetic outcomes different communities, and how those outcomes are managed.
Diabetes is more likely to affect people of color. In this study by the American Diabetes association, you can see that 16% of diabetes diagnoses in the years 2007-2009 were for Indigenous Americans, followed by 13% for Black Americans and 12% for Hispanic Americans.
Directed Storytelling
From our directed storytelling, we found 4 major themes. Our study participants wanted…
Users currently struggle:
To find nutritional information for their cultural foods on food tracking apps, leading to reluctance in consuming these foods due to inadequate tracking capabilities.
To obtain clear and accessible educational information on diabetes. Even when a care team is available, individuals often feel uncertain about advocating for themselves and may lack the knowledge to ask questions for effective diabetes management.
To advocate for themselves within healthcare settings. Despite advancements in healthcare inclusivity, people of color, especially non-English-speaking immigrants, encounter challenges in self advocacy.
To share glucose updates with care providers. Having access to historical data over time is considered essential for effective communication and management.
Feature Card Sorting & Kano Analysis
After considering user feedback, our team developed low-fidelity features for users to evaluate and provide feedback through a Kano Analysis. This approach allowed us to prioritize critical features within the app efficiently.
The Kano Analysis revealed users' strong interest in the following features:
Accessing current and historical glucose data.
Receiving push notifications for low or high glucose levels.
Easily tracking food, including the use of a camera for quick meal or barcode capture.
Connecting with diverse, culturally competent healthcare providers experienced in working with patients from various backgrounds.
Accessing holistic education on diabetes management.
The Design
Here’s a small snapshot of GlucoGuardian. The diabetes management app helps users monitor glucose levels, learn and track dietary information of culturally relevant foods, and find culturally competent care and advocacy, all while pairing with a continuous glucose monitor.