Acute heart failure is one of the main reasons for hospitalization in elderly people. For patients who receive treatment, imminent heart failure can be predicted by a variety of symptoms. These symptoms can be tracked and managed using a diary and daily rituals, but adhering to the rituals can be bothersome and tracking a wide range of symptoms manually can prove to be challenging.

Normally, a mobile application can be very useful in this scenario. The typical patient in regard to acute heart failure, however, is not used to handling smartphones or other mobile devices and using digital support systems. So, we set out to explore how we can make a symptom  tracking application manageable for elderly people to prevent acute heart failure.

We started researching the symptoms of acute heart failure and how they can be measured and tracked. Blood pressure, eating habits, weight, medication, heart rate, breathing, activity level and sleep can be indicators for imminent health problems. Conveniently, they include various metrics that can be measured using wearables and smart devices. The wellbeing of the patient is a factor that needs to be discussed with the patient.

To circumvent the problems associated with elderly people and mobile devices, we included a conversational interface to simplify the interaction for the patient. Our MVP integrated the measurement from smart scales and a set of questions included in the conversation flow with the patient.

WHAT I DID

- Managed medical research in collaboration with medical professionals

- Identified ways to learn about imminent acute heart failure

- Designed user flow for the daily routine

- Created conversation flow for the interaction with the voice assistant

- Created patient-centric story

- Managed MVP build in collaboration with a development team