BPM Connect: Blood Pressure Monitor

Redesigned a BPM for simplicity and accessibility, focusing on intuitive navigation and clear visuals.

Role

UX Researcher & Designer

Company

Graduate Program Team Project

Tools

Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop

Project Overview

Background

Hypertension is a major health concern both in the United States and globally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that hypertension contributed to 691,095 deaths in the U.S. in 2021. The Canadian Journal of Cardiology projects that global hypertension prevalence will reach 1.56 billion by 2025. Given its potentially life-threatening implications and the increasing risks associated with middle age, people are more motivated to monitor and manage their blood pressure regularly—not just in healthcare settings but also at home.

Product

The Withings BPM Connect is designed for convenient at-home use, allowing users to monitor their blood pressure independently and share results with healthcare professionals. It was developed in collaboration with leading cardiologists and benchmarked against multiple reference devices to ensure exceptional measurement accuracy.

Problem

The current design has three major usability issues related to cuff placement, the single-button system, and screen readability—all of which negatively impacted the overall user experience.

Project Goals

Identify the needs, behaviors, and pain points of patients who monitor and manage hypertension with blood pressure monitors.
Optimize the user interface to make it intuitive and user-friendly, guiding users from measurement to result confirmation.
Improve accessibility and inclusivity to ensure the monitor is usable by individuals with physical or cognitive disabilities.

My Roles

Conducted user research to identify key user characteristics and developed personas to keep the team aligned on user needs throughout the design process.
Created a user journey map to visualize the end-to-end experience and highlight user goals, pain points, and decision-making moments.
Led heuristic evaluations to uncover usability issues and synthesized findings into actionable design recommendations.
Delivered a clear, concise presentation of research insights and collaborated with the team to ideate user-centered solutions, translating them into prototypes using physical models, Figma, and Adobe Photoshop.
Executed usability testing on updated prototypes to validate design improvements and identify additional opportunities to enhance the BPM Connect user experience.

Project Overview

Background

Product

Problem

Project Goals

Identify the needs, behaviors, and pain points of patients who monitor and manage hypertension with blood pressure monitors.
Optimize the user interface to make it intuitive and user-friendly, guiding users from measurement to result confirmation.
Improve accessibility and inclusivity to ensure the monitor is usable by individuals with physical or cognitive disabilities.

My Roles

Conducted user research to identify key user characteristics and developed personas to keep the team aligned on user needs throughout the design process.
Created a user journey map to visualize the end-to-end experience and highlight user goals, pain points, and decision-making moments.
Led heuristic evaluations to uncover usability issues and synthesized findings into actionable design recommendations.
Delivered a clear, concise presentation of research insights and collaborated with the team to ideate user-centered solutions, translating them into prototypes using physical models, Figma, and Adobe Photoshop.
Executed usability testing on updated prototypes to validate design improvements and identify additional opportunities to enhance the BPM Connect user experience.

Project Details

Process

Stage 1. Research & Discovery

User Research: Conducted interviews with individuals managing high blood pressure to understand their primary needs, behaviors, and pain points.

Personas: Created two personas based on research insights to guide user-centered design decisions.

Heuristic Evaluations: Conducted one-on-one research sessions with four participants (ages 50–61). Each participant independently completed a blood pressure measurement task, and immediately afterward, the researcher guided them through Nielsen’s ten usability heuristics. Participants answered questions reflecting ten usability aspects and rated any issues they experienced on a scale from Level 1 (minor annoyance) to Level 5 (significant obstacle).

Stage 2. Analysis & Planning

Data Analysis: Conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses of the heuristic evaluation data. Three major usability issues were identified, related to user control and freedom, aesthetic and minimalist design, and error prevention.

User Journey Maps: Developed journey maps to visually represent user interactions with BPM Connect. These highlighted users’ goals, motivations, pain points, and decision-making processes.

Stage 3. Design Ideation & Prototyping

Design Ideation: Collaborated with the team to brainstorm and generate a range of innovative design solutions aimed at addressing the three major usability issues identified during research. Proposed ideas focused on improving cuff placement clarity, simplifying navigation, and enhancing display readability to create a more intuitive and accessible user experience.

Prototyping: Built prototypes to visualize and test proposed solutions, making them easier for users to understand and evaluate.

Design Ideas

⚠️ Issue 1: Users were confused because the correct cuff placement was not clearly indicated.

🛠️ Solution: Introduced a distinct color scheme on the cuff to clearly indicate the correct positioning. Users should place the cuff with the colored section facing the floor.

⚠️ Issue 2: The single-button system was inconvenient, requiring users to remember different press sequences for various functions (e.g., power and measurement adjustments).

🛠️ Solution: Replaced the single-button interface with a three-button system. The central round button powers the device on/off and selects functions, while the up and down buttons allow users to navigate between options more easily.

⚠️ Issue 3: The pixel-based LED matrix screen was difficult to read, especially for older users. Blood pressure results (systolic and diastolic) also switched too quickly, making them hard to interpret.

🛠️ Solution: Redesigned the interface with a larger LCD display, offering improved readability. Added font size and color contrast options to enhance accessibility for all users.

Stage 4. Usability Testing & Design Iteration

Usability Testing: To validate the proposed design solutions for improving the Withings BPM Connect user experience, we conducted moderated usability tests. The same four evaluators from the heuristic evaluation participated in this round of testing.

Key Observations:

Familiarity with three-button navigation: All four participants expressed familiarity with the new three-button navigation system, comparing it to joystick controllers. They found it intuitive and easy to use.
Transitioning from a single to double measurement: All participants were able to complete this task without difficulty.
Cuff placement: Participants immediately recognized the correct way to wear the cuff, confirming the effectiveness of the visual design cues.

Future Scope

Usability testing with physical prototypes: The UX research for the updated designs was limited to image-based prototypes, which restricted participants from fully interacting with the device. To better validate the design solutions and gain a more accurate understanding of the user experience, we plan to conduct usability testing with functional physical prototypes.

Regulatory compliance: As BPM Connect is a medical device, future usability testing must be designed in accordance with FDA requirements.

Stage 4. Usability Testing & Design Iteration

Key Observations:

Familiarity with three-button navigation: All four participants expressed familiarity with the new three-button navigation system, comparing it to joystick controllers. They found it intuitive and easy to use.
Transitioning from a single to double measurement: All participants were able to complete this task without difficulty.
Cuff placement: Participants immediately recognized the correct way to wear the cuff, confirming the effectiveness of the visual design cues.

Future Scope

Usability testing with physical prototypes: The UX research for the updated designs was limited to image-based prototypes, which restricted participants from fully interacting with the device. To better validate the design solutions and gain a more accurate understanding of the user experience, we plan to conduct usability testing with functional physical prototypes.

Regulatory compliance: As BPM Connect is a medical device, future usability testing must be designed in accordance with FDA requirements.