UX in the world: Home medical devices
- ux
As a millenial old enough to remember the late 80s, I’m starting to get to explore the wonderful world of medical devices. What I found may shock you.
Okay, not really. But it is interesting. The devices I have access to are almost universally unattractive: big buttons, weird mono-color LCD screens, plastic casings that feel like toys from when I was a kid. But, universally, they all excel at what’s most important, the user experience.
For as ugly as these things are they’re all surprisingly easy and intuitive to use. Plus, they all have Bluetooth and integrate with Apple Health, which is a pretty great piece of software that deserves more attention.
The devices that I’ve tried so far include:
- An Omron blood pressure reader + cuff with an associated app on my iPhone
- A OneTouch Verio Flex blood sugar reader with an associated app on my iPhone
Both purpose-built devices are straightforward to use. The blood pressure reader has two buttons: Start/Stop and Sync. Just put on the cuff, press Start/Stop to turn it on, it does its thing, press Sync, it does its thing, and then press Start/Stop to turn it off. Easy. The app picks up the log quickly and sends it immediately to Apple Health, and has an easy to read quick analytic to tell you if you’re in range or not.
The blood sugar reader is similarly simple, if a bit more painful. There’s no need to even turn it on (a feature that led me to write this musing, in fact). Simply insert a lil plastic sensor thing into the top of the device to turn it on, prick your finger, get some blood on the sensor (which is easy, just touch the channel on the sensor to the prick and it funnels it right away), it analyzes it, and then sends it to the app. If the app is running it just works; if its not, you need to open it first. Then just take out the sensor and throw it away and you’re all set.
Everything is designed to be easily manipulated by one person with one hand, for the most part. Although these devices are objectively unattractive, they’re both easy to turn on, use, and turn off. And, they both shipped with lil protective cases to keep them safe from dust and pet hair, which is a nice touch.