Description
The Health Dashboard was my senior year capstone project for my Engineering Psychology degree at Tufts University. This project was completed in collaboration with Cambridge Consultants , an international product development firm. The goal of this project was to investigate the needs of elderly people living in assisted living facilities, in addition to the needs of their caretakers. Using our findings, we produced recommendations for the development of health tracking systems for these user groups.

Documentation
Download a PDF detailing this project and our process work.

Collaborators
Andrea Dwyer, Leslie Johnston, Dale Chesney, Emily Maretsky

Tools
Photoshop
Balsamiq
Physical Prototyping

Skills
Usability Testing
Cognitive Task Modeling
Focus Groups
Interviews

Requirements Analysis
An integral part of our work was to identify the constraints and requirements that could impact the development of the health dashboard. These constraints included the needs of our intended users, policies, like HIPAA that govern the distribution of health information, and the technical requirements for the development of any potential devices and for the integration of third-party sensor data.

Focus Groups
In addition to working with Cambridge Consultants, this project was also a collaboration with many staff members, health professionals, and residents of Brookhaven at Lexington, a retirement and senior care facility in Lexington, Massachusetts. As a part of our work, we conducted focus groups and interviews with members form each of these stakeholder groups. In doing so, we learned a great deal about their experiences and needs.

Design Concepts
Based on our findings from the requirements analysis, focus groups, and interviews, we developed a four design concepts: the kiosk, the dock, the dial, and the folio. The kiosk was an example of a public network of shared computers and sensors. The dock was an example of a system that was comprised of two components: a individual interface and a larger system that could be shared by a family. The dial was a handheld device that would allow users to view and update information on the go. Finally, the folio concept explored how other uses of this system could help integrate it into the practices of the residents, their families, and caregivers.

Usability Testing and Assessment
Based on the information we'd collected and feedback from our sponsors, we decided to pursue the dock concept. These photos were taken during a usability test and cognitive task analysis with residents at the Brookhaven facility.

Press
Since the completion of our capstone project, researchers and designers at Cambridge Consultants have continued to work on and develop the Health Dashboard. Here are three articles articles discussing the project and the work completed by the project team.

Putting the patient first: Students work with elderly to define the next stage of the connected health revolution.
Tufts students design medical technology
Creating User-Friendly Medical Technology

Partnerships
A major outcome of this project was the continued partnership between Cambridge Consultants and the Engineering Psychology program at Tufts. The success of this project also helped develop a partnership with Brookhaven at Lexington.

After participating in our project, the residents and staff decided to sponsor their own project the next year.