STRATEGY | RESEARCH | IMPLEMENTATION
A Digital Medicine Ecosystem for Better Mental Health
Note: The details and deliverables for this project are under a strict NDA. Please email me for more information.
Have you heard of the
“get-well syndrome”?
In one of our in-depth interviews, a participant with Bipolar I Disorder (we’ll call him Ali) described the “get-well syndrome.” Intrigued, we probed for an explanation. For him, this paradox occurred when he felt great from a mental health perspective mainly attributed to consistently taking his medication. So great in fact, that he would stop taking his medication all-together, feeling like he didn’t need it anymore. After about 3 days, his mental well-being plummeted, and then the cycle would start over again.
Having a consistent routine is healthy for everyone, but it’s especially important for those with serious mental illness(s) (SMIs). When Ali felt low again due to lack of medication, there was no quick fix. This tumultuous cycle is not uncommon for folks who are on medication for SMIs, creating a feeling of instability. This is one of many examples that enforces the need for a solution that can help people remain consistent in taking their medication. Cue Abilify MyCite, and the need for myself and my team to create a truly human-centered experience within the system.
What is Abilify MyCite?
A pioneer in digital medicine, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals created a product ecosystem aimed to help those with serious mental illness(es) (SMI) stay on top of taking their medication, as well as remaining closely connected to their Healthcare Provider (HCP). The patient-facing system, Abilify MyCite, contains a tablet, a patch and a mobile app, while the HCPs and Caregivers (CGs) each have their own portal to view the patient’s adherence to medication, mood and sleep.
3 Workstreams
Our team was brought in to discover the underlying needs for people with particular SMIs beyond what the system currently does, and then work with different departments (packaging, wearables, etc.) to implement these changes within a roadmap of production releases. Over almost a two year engagement, my team and I created value that materialized into 3 different workstreams.
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We started with one discovery workstream, where we (in)validated our hours of desk research through:
Working sessions across internal departments to learn from SMEs in the digital medicine space
Heuristic and competitive analyses
Workshops (for both patient and HCP)
Value proposition testing (for both patient and HCP)
Survey through the patient community
Concept card testing (for both patient and HCP)
Result:
2 validated areas to focus features around and include in the next (and future) release(s) of the patient app and HCP portal.
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I lead the UX for the current production release of all three products in the MyCite ecosystem:
Guided teams of developers, BAs and POs
Collaborated with main stakeholders, 3rd parties, and Lead Engineers to determine the UX roadmap
Interviewed practicing HCPs to (in)validate if their needs are met via new portal design
Lead demos, showcases, etc. to demonstrate progress to our clients
Result:
HCP and CG portal production release that meets the users’ needs and also required significantly less backend work than originally planned.
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Planning years in advance and taking advantage of windows of opportunity for testing, my team and I redesigned the mobile app experience based on scope per release.
Proposed strategy to improve key areas of the app to main stakeholders, with redesigned overall flows and architecture
Interviewed patient ambassadors and worked with the commercial team to gather feedback around the patch set up and prolonged use, and also worked with wearables team to ensure aligned around patch engineering and in-app experience
Implemented what we learned from the research to optimize areas we are updating (onboarding and patch) and conceptualize features for future releases
Partnered with 3rd party for 4 rounds of HF testing of the new app experience, using the opportunity to iterate based on user feedback
Result:
A redesigned app ready for FDA submission that fixes major usability issues from the current release incorporating patient/HCP feedback, and completely modernizing the look and feel.
To read more about Abilify MyCite, checkout their website.