01
A toggle, not a form
GainedA whole schedule on or off in one tap.
CostAny detail change goes through the edit sheet.
Case study 04 — Self-directed concept
A reminder that works when the user doesn't.
A medicine reminder for people who forget, and for the people who look after them: a caregiver can run the schedule for someone who cannot use the app.
4 weeksInterviews to tested prototype
4Signals from one-on-one interviews
4Tabs, one job each
1 scanTo pair a loved one
The problem
01 — Two failure modes
The users who most need a reminder app are the least served by one.
- Every product in the category assumes a person who can learn a new interface.
- The people who forget most are often the ones who cannot.
Research
02 — Interviews
One-on-one interviews, four consistent signals.
- Medication and appointments in one place
- Simple to use — complexity is a dealbreaker, not a feature
- Well-regarded clinics and pharmacies nearby
- Someone else's schedule, not just their own
Personas built from the interviews
JennyEngineer, 31, two children
Runs the whole family's medicine; loses track of whose schedule is whose.
AurtherRetired, 63
Forgets doses through the day, finds modern apps unusable, and does not want to be a burden.
Architecture
03 — Before pixels
Kept deliberately shallow: every core task two taps from the bottom bar.
Home
- Set Alarm
- Add Medicine
- Edit Medicine
- Search
Appointments
- Add Appointment
- Search
Nearby
- Clinics
- Hospital
- Pharmacy
- Clinics
Parental
- Monitored Accounts
- Scan
- Medicine
- Appointments
- Search
- Monitored Accounts
Account
- Profile
- Access Code
- Helpline
- About Us
- Medicine Cabinet
- Feedback
- Problems
- Log out
The product
04 — Four tabs
Four tabs, one job each. No nested menus.
The caregiver
05 — The parental feature
The most important flow runs when the primary user does nothing.
- The people you look after, in one grid; a card flags who needs a push.
- Tap in for their medicine and appointments, and change them for them.
Fig. 02 — Jamie's schedule, run by the caregiver: medicine and appointments
Up close
06 — Four decisions
Choices that served both personas at once.
A — Stock
Inventory that warns early
The counter turns red well before zero, so nobody is caught out mid-course.
B — Toggle
One toggle per medicine
A whole schedule is one tap — no forms, no dialogs to get lost in. Removing one is a swipe.
C — Schedule
The whole schedule on one sheet
Time, days and duration together, with oversized numerals and generous targets.
D — Pairing
Pairing by QR, not setup
One scan from the caregiver; the other person configures nothing.
The system
07 — Components
Soft surfaces, one teal, and a component for every repeated part.
- Montserrat throughout; large numerals for times and doses.
- Neumorphic cards and controls on a pale mist ground, gentle on purpose for a product that sits next to health anxiety.
- Teal #04BFBF · primary
- Teal gradient · headers
- Navy #092C37 · text, caregiver
- Mist #F3FBFE · ground
- Red #F82F22 · refill, delete
The rest of the app
08 — Account and support
The same system carried everything behind the tabs.
Trade-offs
09 — Four calls
Four calls, and what each one cost.
02
The caregiver can edit
GainedIt works for someone who cannot use the app.
CostConsent between two accounts has to be designed: the access code.
03
Pairing by QR
GainedNothing to set up for the older user.
CostPairing needs the phone in hand, or the code.
04
Soft, low-contrast surfaces
GainedCalm, for a product next to health anxiety.
CostField and card edges are faint for older eyes.
Outcome
10 — What it left behind
A tested prototype, and one flow worth taking further.
- End-to-end in 4 weeks: interviews, architecture, UI, and a prototype tested with users.
- A concept, not a shipped product: no usage figures exist, so none are claimed.
What I’d do differently
ContrastRaise contrast on fields and cards, and test at arm's length with older users.
Missed doseDesign the escalation end to end: when the caregiver hears, and how.
MeasureTest adherence over weeks, not in a single session.
I designed this for my grandmother
11 — Why it's personal
The parental feature exists because of my grandmother, who cannot use a smartphone at all. My sister or I handle her reminders remotely. The most important flow in this product is the one that runs when the primary user does nothing — because for some users, doing nothing is the default.
Also on Behance
12 — Companion board
More screens and the research artefacts in presentation form:
Next — 05 / Building in public