Vitalize
A calming health tracking app designed for users with dysautonomia and heart/blood pressure regulation issues.
Role
UI/UX Designer
Project Duration
2 weeks (Currently undergoing user tests)
Discover & Define
Initial Thinking
Target Users
People with dysautonomia disorders and heart/blood pressure regulation issues
People who are interested in tracking their heart health
Research Methods
Existing Systems
Quantitative research (survey)
Qualitative research (user testing)
Requirements
Product
This app is designed for users who are struggling with dysautonomia or are curious about their heart health.
Users can view their vitals, check in with their symptoms and activity, and view their personal health trends (ex: how less sleep may cause more headaches)
User
Primary User: An adult struggling with low energy, or irregular blood pressure and heart rate.
Technical
This mobile app is paired with Apple Health and benefits from a heart monitor paired device, such as an Apple Watch.
Business
Competitors: Withings, Visible
To differ from competitors, Vitalize is designed to feel less sterile and more positively engaging- both in its visuals and experience.
90%
Symptom-Specific
90 percent of survey respondents said that they would like to select symptoms most relevant to them for their daily check-ins. Comments were left saying that there is such a large number of possible symptoms, so narrowing it down would reduce feelings of overwhelm and indecision.
70%
Light-Hearted Design!
60 percent of survey respondents felt stronger about a visual design centered around lightheartedness and ease, rather than a more minimalistic and standard design. Surveyors expressed that this approach would make the app feel more inviting, as well as cater to the idea of winding down with check-ins.
User Personas
Persona 1: Sophie Fitzpatrick
33 years old, She/Her
User Statement: “As a recent graduate adjusting to a new office job, I want a simple way to log my sleep, screen time, activity level and daily symptoms once a day, so I can better understand my low energy levels and have clear information to share with my doctor.”
Pain Points
Seeks reassurance and advice, becoming discouraged without it.
Requires reminders to stay on task.
End Goal
Regularly complete check-ins inside the app.
Persona 2: Kate Rivera
23 years old, She/Her
User Statement: “As someone with POTS, I want an app that helps me track my triggers like hydration, rest, and activity, so I can better manage my symptoms and predict flare-ups, especially during the summer heat.”
Pain Points
Struggles to correlate symptoms to personal habits.
End Goal
Explore trends that highlight her health habits
User Journeys
Journey 1: Onboarding & Health Assessment
Journey 2: Evening Check-In (First Time User)
Journey 3: Browsing Health Data and Reviewing Spikes, Averages, etc…
Explore & Ideate
Low-Fid Wireframes
Journey 1: Onboarding & Health Assessment
Journey 2: Evening Check-In (First Time User)
Notes: When approaching the onboarding and checking-in features, I wanted to find the balance between an experience that felt too dense vs an experience that felt overly prolonged. Due to the focus on health, specific questions had to be asked to provide a more personalized experience; however, I approached it with features such as a progress bar, engaging loading screens, and in-app feature examples in order to decrease the user drop-off rate.
Journey 3: Browsing Health Data and Reviewing Spikes, Averages, etc…
Note: As the app is designed for Apple products, I aimed to use a similar graphing and plotting style to maintain a sense of familiarity for users. I then built off this language with an intent of connecting with an audience who may want to stay at ease looking at their vitals, rather than approaching it in a directly analytical and clinical way, like most health data apps. Using a variety of shapes, highlighting the most important information in accessible locations, and visually emphasizing details that other apps would usually not pick up on (ex: heart rate spikes) contributed to this approach.
User Testing
User tests were conducted for each flow. I broke down each case into a summarized problem and solution.
Problem
Categorized Filters
Filtering options were added during onboarding, allowing users to quickly browse and select relevant symptom categories.
This change helped users clearly see what the app included without unnecessary scrolling.
Lack of Symptom Filtering
During onboarding, users wanted the ability to filter through symptom categories. Without this feature, they felt they had to keep scrolling, which made it confusing to know what symptoms the app offered without reading through the entire list.
Solution
Flexible Onboarding Journey
A “Skip for now” button was added, allowing users to bypass the initial check-in. This change gave users more control and flexibility when first navigating the app.
Flow Friction
Some users did not want to complete a check-in immediately during onboarding, but there was no option to opt out. They preferred to explore the app first and adjust their settings before checking in.
Expanded Data Options
Additional timeframes were introduced, allowing users to switch between daily, weekly, and monthly trends.
This improvement gave users a clearer picture of their overall patterns and encouraged them to explore more, leading to higher screen-time spent looking through charts.
Limited Data Visibility
On the data pages, such as the heart rate page, users wanted to review more than a single day’s metrics at a time.
They wanted access to broader trends that reflected their progress over a week or a month, without having to disrupt their flow and head to the overall trends page.
Visual Identity
UI Design
Final Reflection
Project Takeaways
Understanding Health Data
This app posed the challenge of clearly understanding dysautonomia disorders and their symptoms, as well as interpreting health data so it could be properly charted and displayed. A lot of research went into learning how data such as hourly heart rate, weekly step count, and daily blood pressure are shown on graphs, and how specific callouts (or outliers) can be pinpointed for users to easily comprehend.
Approachable Design
Initially, I approached this project with the idea of a very clean design, modeled after health diagnostic boards and charts. After reviewing examples and speaking with potential users, I began experimenting with a more friendly, “bubbly” design while still staying true to the standards of a health app.
Information Overload
My current struggles in this project fall under knowing what data to prioritize displaying. Keeping in mind that the range of knowledge a user has varies greatly, I’ve found some difficulty in knowing what users will expect or want to see. I believe further user testing is needed.
Final Notes *
This project has been exciting to complete, especially since I’ve been interested in the experience of health log apps since high school. More testing is on its way, and I have plans to expand the app- adding more to each page and figuring out the experience for discovering trends. Looking forward to finishing this project!