Simplifying Medication Management
St. Joseph’s Health—a leading New Jersey health system—sought to improve patient discharge and reduce readmissions. Over 15 weeks, our team designed PillPro, a solution that combines physical and digital tools to help patients understand and manage their medications effectively.
My Role
Research
UX Design
UI Design
Prototyping
Advisors
Roger Mader
Criswell Lappin
Sean Ferry
Umila Singh
Team
4 Product Designers
Client
St. Joseph's Health
Timeline
Sept ‘23 - Dec ‘23
35M patients are discharged from hospitals annually in the U.S.A
7M of those patients experience adverse events in the first week after discharge
4.27M of those adverse events are regarded as preventable
PillPro ensures patients understand their medication and develop better adherence habits
A personalized, easy-to-read guide that provides clear instructions on prescribed medications, including dosage, timing, and precautions. Designed to be kept at home for quick reference and safe medication management.
A user-friendly mobile app designed to help patients manage their prescriptions with ease. Features include personalized medication tracking, interactive reminders, and educational resources to ensure adherence and informed healthcare decisions—right at their fingertips.
We employed the double-diamond approach in our project, utilizing the Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver phases to guide our design thinking process.
We conducted a total of 12 semi-structured interviews to gain a deeper understanding of our users.
"One of the main reasons for readmission is when the patient does not take the prescribed medication properly."
“We spend 45 mins on educating patients when they discharge but some patients have a difficult time outside of hospital.”
“They explained it to you when you're on your medication. So, not only are you numb, but your head's foggy and you don't understand anything”
We transcribed interviews, mapped pain points, and created an effort-impact matrix to prioritize solutions.
To tackle the challenges we identified in our research, we used the Crazy 8 brainstorming method. Each team member sketched eight quick ideas in eight minutes, then selected their top three solutions based on feasibility, impact, and user needs.
1. Customized Printed Medication List 📋
2. Label with Scratch-Off Stickers 🏷️
3. Mobile Application 🤳
To ensure our solutions met user needs, we conducted usability testing on all three prototypes. Participants shared likes and dislikes, helping us refine the designs.
"I like seeing it like this. I like the colour, I like the physical nature. I know which one to take in the morning afternoon evening."
"The actual pills and then I can see right here which ones I need. I think it's helpful"
"I don’t think these icons are intuitive for me."
"I have everything that I need to know on the bottle"
"I’m not going to scratch. I don’t even wear my glasses, if I have to sit here, and do this and it’s tiny. I’m not going to use it"
"I wouldn't do this if if I had to take this every day for the rest of my life"
"I like that it is broken into morning, afternoon etc."
"I liked the pictures because that's good to helps me know which ones to take"
"Alarm is such a simple thing to remember something"
"But I’m not bringing my phone to the bathroom and that is where I take my pills"
PillPro integrates with hospital EMR systems (like EPIC & CERNER) to pull medication data, ensuring accurate information for patients.
See real medication images alongside names and dosages for quick and easy recognition.
Understand drugs with both generic and brand names for clarity.
Get clear guidance on when and how much to take with simple visuals.
Know important warnings, interactions, and safety tips before taking medicine.
Learn how medications help your health and their expected benefits.
Identify possible side effects with icons for informed decision-making.
See real medication images alongside names and dosages for quick and easy recognition.
✔️ Mark medications as taken for easy tracking.
✔️ Organizes pills by time of day.
✔️ Tap to view detailed medicine info.
Provides diagnosis details, symptoms, and causes at a glance.
✔️ Includes lifestyle tips beyond medication.
✔️ Built-in dictionary for medical terms—no need to search online.
Pre-set and customizable reminders for each prescription.
✔️ Edit & adjust reminders to fit daily routines.
Stay on track with smart medication alerts.
✔️ Mark doses as taken or skip with a 10-minute snooze option.
✔️ Ensures flexible, stress-free medication management.
This project was full of challenges, but we stayed committed. There were bumps along the way, moments of doubt, and ideas that didn’t make the cut. Yet, we kept going, adapting, and refining until we found a solution we believed in. Here’s what we learned over these 15 weeks:
1️⃣ Trust the Process
At first, the overwhelming number of problems felt daunting. We had countless ideas, but not all fit our timeframe. By sticking to the process, we gradually shaped a solution that worked.
2️⃣ Prototyping & User Feedback is Everything
Rather than debating which idea was best, we let rapid prototyping and user testing guide us. Seeing real feedback helped us build something truly useful.
3️⃣ Teamwork & Enjoying the Journey
No one can do it all. Trusting each other made all the difference. And most importantly, we had fun—because without that, all the hard work wouldn’t have been worth it.
