Median Care

Health care

An at-Home self-monitoring tool for infectious disease symptoms

Business problem & context

During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients with infectious diseases often faced a critical gap in care: despite being told to self-monitor symptoms at home, they lacked proper tools to track their condition, determine symptom severity, or access reliable information. With approximately 7.2 million infection-related doctor visits annually in the US alone, this represented a significant unmet need in healthcare that affected patient outcomes and increased anxiety during recovery.

My role & leadership

As the sole researcher and designer on this project, I led the entire process from identifying the market opportunity to designing and validating the solution. My personal experience of managing moderate to severe COVID-19 symptoms for 8 weeks provided unique insight, but I ensured all decisions were backed by comprehensive user research across diverse patient experiences.

Strategic approach

I approached this challenge using the Double Diamond innovation framework to ensure the solution met the trifecta of desirability, feasibility, and viability:

• Discovery: Conducted market landscape analysis that revealed no existing tools focused specifically on tracking/monitoring patient symptoms over time—identifying a clear opportunity space




• Definition: Synthesized research findings into clear user needs and problem statement:



Problem statement

How might we utilize cutting-edge technology to support infectious disease patients in their home recovery journey?


• Development: Prioritized features based on value/complexity analysis and created an intuitive digital solution
• Delivery: Validated the concept through rigorous user testing

Key research insights

Through surveys and in-depth interviews, I uncovered several critical insights:

• Patients frequently misunderstood symptom severity (rating delirium as "moderate" at 3/5)
• Most avoided seeking medical care despite experiencing serious symptoms due to hospital surge or confusion about when care was needed
• Inconsistent media coverage created additional fear and anxiety during isolation
• All participants were open to digital monitoring tools but none knew any existed

These findings led to the identification of four primary user needs:

• Access to reliable information
• Guidance on when to seek care
• Understanding of symptoms and condition
• Ability to track recovery progress

Key design decisions

Based on research insights and competitive analysis, I made several strategic decisions:

• Calendar-Based Symptom Logging: Created a simple system for patients to track multiple symptoms over time to visualize their recovery journey
• Severity Assessment Tools: Implemented objective measurements (temperature, oxygen levels) rather than subjective assessments
• Curated Information: Designed a system to deliver verified health information from reputable sources
• Healthcare Connection: Included direct pathways to testing facilities and medical care when symptoms reached concerning thresholds

I prioritized features based on a feasibility/value matrix, focusing on high-value, medium-complexity solutions that could be implemented effectively.

Results & business impact

Validation testing with 5 participants demonstrated the solution's effectiveness:

• 100% task completion rate for core symptom logging and monitoring features
• 80% engagement with the "Urgent Care" call-to-action, indicating increased willingness to seek appropriate medical care
• All participants stated they would use the app in the future

The solution demonstrated potential for significant healthcare impact by:

• Improving patient understanding of symptom severity
• Increasing appropriate medical care-seeking behavior
• Reducing anxiety through reliable information
• Supporting recovery through targeted self-care guidance