Responsibilities
Primary & Secondary Research,
Stakeholder Interviews,
Redesign & Development
Wireframing,
Prototyping,
Testing & Validation.
Company
Indian Institute of Science, CPDM
Role
Experience Design Intern
Duration
7 Months
Meraki
*project under NDA, design may not represent final high fidelity version
Healthy Bladder
The bladder stays relaxed and the urethra stays contracted and closed until the patient is ready to void
Stress Incontinence
Urethra is too weak to stay closed during increased intra-abdominal pressure.
Urinary Incontinence has been a prevailing issue over the years due to societal stigma, unawareness and the lack of timely prevention measures. This project oversees the redesign and development of alternative digital bladder diary solutions with the aim to increase compliance and consistency among patients dealing with UI.
Project Overview
Meraki is a steadily rising MedTech startup that focuses on the issue of urinary incontinence (UI) in women of ages 20-60. One of the key assets involved in diagnosing UI is a diagnostic tool called a Bladder Diary. It is a diary that allows patients to keep a record of and observe fluid intake and urination patterns in their day to day lives.
The objective of this project was to understand the various issues faced by patients as well as doctors during the initial stages of diagnosis involving the bladder diary. This project involves the design and development of *two concept versions that were tested and received positively with 80% our primary users.
*This project is still in progress and currently under NDA.
423 million
People who suffer with UI
20 years and older
25%-45%
Women report having symptoms of UI
50%
Patients do not complete BD.
24%
UI Patients are misdiagnosed.
COntext
Urinary Incontinence (UI) is the involuntary leakage of urine. UI has been a stigmatized condition for ages, it is seen as a natural yet shameful condition that cannot be prevented. Hence patients suffering from UI do not seek help until the severity of the condition increases.
UI can range from mild inconveniences to a socially isolating, debilitating condition. There are five types of UI, however this project focuses on stress urinary incontinence (SUI). SUI is the involuntary leakage that occurs when intra-abdominal stress is applied onto the bladder.
Miraki aims to become a pioneer in pelvic health treatment and management. Their primary target audience is working women of the ages 20 to 60.
One aspect of their solution to tackle UI is the Bladder Diary, a diagnostic tool prescribed by doctors that allows patients to track their daily fluid intake and urination habits. Bladder Diaries allow doctors to observe patterns of behavior in their patients lives that may hint to the class of UI they are experiencing.
However the accuracy of bladder diaries remains in question as there are a problems with compliance, incomplete entries, lack of follow up...etc. These issues cause irregularity in the data which ultimately leads to the misdiagnosis of the patient’s condition.
Objective
To ensure that the patients are consistently filling out the bladder diary without errors and inaccurate entries.
How might we improve the experience of Bladder diaries to ensure higher rates of compliance and accuracy of collected data?
Challenges & limitations
Development Constraints – The lack of in-house developers delayed testing and validation. We mitigated this by using high-fidelity prototypes and interactive agents to simulate real-world use.
Participant Recruitment – Finding willing patients was challenging due to the sensitive nature of incontinence. To address this, we prioritized quality over quantity, ensuring detailed and actionable feedback.
Limited Real-World Testing – Constraints in participant recruitment and development limited in-situ testing. We compensated by conducting guided usability sessions and scenario-based testing.
Data Privacy Concerns – Users were hesitant due to privacy risks with health tracking. We addressed this by prioritizing transparency in data handling, though further security testing was needed.
Balancing Simplicity & Functionality – Users had varying digital literacy levels, requiring a balance between quick tracking and detailed analytics without overwhelming the experience.
learnings
Wearing Multiple Hats – Balancing UI design, research, and prototyping helped me stay engaged in every step of development.
Field Research Experience – Working with a research assistant deepened my skills in user observation and data collection.
Navigating Design Constraints – Using prototypes and interactive agents allowed for testing without full development.
Understanding User Sensitivities – Researching sensitive health topics taught me to build trust and adapt methods for better engagement.
Cross-Team Collaboration – Working with researchers and technical experts improved my ability to synthesize insights into design.
Adaptability & Problem-Solving – Overcoming testing and recruitment challenges strengthened my ability to iterate and refine UX despite constraints.
Design Process
A paper bladder diary
research & exploration
I conducted extensive secondary research and primary research in various forms. To explore areas of Urinary Incontinence that had not been looked into before
Literature Study: This phase allowed me to become familiar with the complexities of urinary incontinence and the different difficulties that arise when using a bladder diary, a tool that has high chance of human error on both ends, the consulting doctors and the patients.
Heuristic Task Analysis: In this phase I used Jakob Neilson’s Principles to gauge the efficiency and ease of the existing bladder diary application. I also made sure to take WCAG guidelines into account as Meraki was targeting a varied age group of women.
Competitor Analysis: During this phase I compared the existing bladder diary experience with related BD apps in the market. At this point, there was very little separating Meraki’s BD from the rest. The only novelty was that Meraki’s app would be working in tandem with their smart wear device. User tests and online feedback from these parallel applications allowed us to get a sense of what they were looking for in their bladder diary applications and how existing solutions had missed the mark.
Online Forum Discussions: I had decided to reach out to online communities that were created for UI patients to vent, share opinions and receive advice. Although the responses were limited, we received thorough pain points from experienced BD users themselves.
Primary Research: I conducted user research with over 20+ urologists and gynecologists' to understand the clinical process of diagnosing urinary incontinence and the associated problems that come with it. We were able to find out what the
Information Architecture
USe case Scenarios
I explored various use case scenarios after designing the main app prototype. These use cases allowed us to see how the app would meet the needs of the user in different niche instances. The priority of the use cases and their solutions were decided by referencing the insights received from primary research.
Project Under NDA
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