Tuberculosis (TB), a curable disease, effects tens of thousands of people in Uganda each year. Fantastic effort has been put in place to ensure medication is available to all Ugandans however challenges around adherence still exist. As a Design Researcher with The Better Lab (San Francisco General Hospital's design group), I worked with a team to apply Human Centered Design (HCD) techniques to this problem.
User Research
The team had the opportunity to interview 67 individuals from varying backgrounds: TB patients, family, health care staff, and community leaders. I lead over 15 interviews using the semi-structured interview process and conducted multiple home visits to develop insights into how TB affects Ugandans.
Insights
• Social stigma is feared as much as the disease
• Patients are motivated by service to their community
• Words and visuals can have unintended negative consequences
• Local messages feel authentic: endorsements by authority figures are viewed with suspicion
Sacrificial Prototypes
Prototypes helped spark conversations during interviews and form insights on how packaging could be used to help improve medication adherence.
Results
The insights gained through design research were used to develop medication packaging to be used in conjunction with digital adherence technology developed by 99DOTS.