Shifting Perspective
Consider your audience’s perspective. That’s the piece of the advice that Ryan Bakker kept returning to as he and his partners developed the KneeConnect — a wearable medical device that provides feedback to patients performing surgeon-prescribed physio exercises after knee replacement surgery. Ryan admits that, while he was happiest digging into the technical details, after working with SnapPea, he regularly stopped to think about the people using KneeConnect, what their needs were, and how it could help them. It’s a piece of advice he heard repeatedly from our team. “Through patient-centered design, we learned a tremendous amount about our market.”
Initially, Kineris approached us to help with the design of KneeConnect. They were confident with the KneeConnect idea, the information they could gather, and the usefulness of the device for patients and surgeons. But, since KneeConnect is a medical-grade product, it needed to be different from activity trackers and other sports equipment available on the retail market. Trying to capture all of that in the industrial design of one device proved challenging.
Consider your audience’s perspective. We started by defining how a patient used KneeConnect and any possible challenges during its use. With our help, Kineris shifted their mind from the known to something different — something unlike anything on the market already. Instead of resembling a knee brace, we used a simple Velcro strap so KneeConnect’s sensor pods could be on the body without encumbering the patient’s ability to perform their exercises. The strap allows the device to be worn on either leg regardless of leg size, and the silicon accordion cable that connects the sensors has the flexibility to expand and contract with the patient’s movement. The cable’s movement also works for patients of any height.
After looking at the industrial design, we turned our attention to its accompanying smartphone app — a way to show the metrics collected by the sensor pods, as well as exercises and a real-time view of how the patient is doing. Ryan admits: “We realized we really knew nothing about how to build a user interface.”
SnapPea didn’t just help us to build an interface — they taught us how to approach it.
— Ryan Bakker, Kineris CEO
Consider your audience’s perspective. We looked at the process, workflow, and engagement model. We explored ways to draw patients into the first experience and keep them engaged in the process, while also presenting metrics and analytics on their behaviors in a compelling way. The result is an app that guides patients through their recovery effectively. It includes the expected recovery trajectory (as well as the patient’s trajectory), reminders for patients who forget to exercise, and a dashboard for surgeons to monitor patient progression. It also provides reassurance that patients are performing exercises and progressing on their recovery.
We enjoyed working with the Kineris team and it felt great to work on a product that will help so many people. From Ryan’s perspective, he admits it was a bit of a leap of faith to try patient-centered design, especially as a start up with a small budget. But, with that focus, Kineris was able to set aside what they knew for something different. As Ryan put it:
“With SnapPea’s help we could look beyond, to see that there was something beautiful coming.”
