iRhythm approached us to help transition the Zio Patch, a wearable heart monitor, from the clinical setting to an at-home application process. The patch is worn by patients for up to two weeks and is trusted by physicians to monitor and detect irregular heart rhythms.
Through iterative research and design, we tailored the out of box experience for patients to successfully apply and manage their Zio in the comfort of their home.
The Zio Patch is a complex medical device generally used by a tech adverse population and applied by a medical professional in a doctor’s office. Our challenge was creating the new at home paradigm for this wearable that walked users through the process as simply and clearly as possible, eliminating information overload.
Applying a heart monitor is an intimidating task, especially for an aging population, and our goal for the design was to deliver users confidence when going through the steps. The design needed to guide users through the lifecycle of the application process utilizing digital media and physical materials. Because Zio is applied at home, the new packaging and instructions would need to consider less than ideal environments, such as a bathroom with minimal counter space, as part of the final design solution.
Before any design work began, the team took the time to identify areas for improvement, challenge existing assumptions, and analyze potential competing factors to understand the customer’s view while keeping business and product goals in mind.
With a solid foundation of understanding, the design team generated 3 packaging concepts and a mobile app design to explore a range of possible approaches and best understand user priorities.
Multiple rounds of iterative user testing were conducted to understand where users naturally went to consume various types of instructional information and the limit for how much information could be absorbed during each step.
The final design resulted in packaging and instructions that are quickly understood and visually directs the user through the set-up process. Instructions are printed directly on packaging for those who need physical materials, and they were also augmented into digital materials for more tech savvy users. The end result was an OOBE that was simple, clear and accessible for any type of user.
