01 — Research

Understanding
the problem.

User interviews and a market audit revealed that adults with asthma and COPD struggle not with detecting symptoms — but with interpreting and communicating them. Uncertainty drives more anxiety than the symptoms themselves.

User Research
Interviews & Insights
Research synthesis board
5
Monitors audited across the market
4
Emotional stages in the patient cycle
3
Weeks from discovery to prototype
1
Core gap no existing product fills
"I can't tell if it's serious or just a bad night — the not knowing is worse than the wheezing itself."
Uncertainty & Anxiety
"By the time I see my GP, the symptoms are gone. I have nothing to show them — just my word."
Communication Gap
"The apps give me numbers I don't understand. I just want to know: is this okay or not?"
Interpretation Burden
"Those medical patches feel like I'm a patient 24/7. I just want something normal on my bedside table."
Daily Livability
User Journey
From symptom to care
Night symptom illustration
Stage 01
Night Symptom
User wakes to wheezing or chest tightness. The episode is real but fleeting — hard to capture, impossible to record in the moment.
Feeling: Alarm → Confusion
Wait and decide illustration
Stage 02
Wait / Decide
Should I call someone? Wait it out? Users lack an objective measure — self-assessment relies on subjective judgment alone, amplifying anxiety.
Feeling: Anxiety → Helplessness
Seek care illustration
Stage 03
Seek Care
By the time they reach a GP, symptoms have often subsided. No data exists to reconstruct what happened overnight.
Feeling: Frustration → Doubt
Explain to clinician illustration
Stage 04
Explain
Patients describe symptoms in vague, subjective terms. Without longitudinal data or recordings, clinicians rely on self-report alone.
Feeling: Dismissed → Unheard
Market Audit
Issues in the market
High Clinical Depth Low Clinical Depth Low Intuitiveness High Intuitiveness
Strados RESP
StethX Patch
Neck Monitor
OMRON WheezeScan
WheezeSense
OMRON false positives
OMRON WheezeScan
False positives from single-mic
Single-microphone architecture misclassifies ambient sounds — crying, squealing, TV audio — as wheeze events, eroding user trust.
Uncomfortable for daily use
Strados · StethX · Neck monitors
Uncomfortable for daily use
Chest patches and neck sensors cause wear fatigue. Built for clinical settings, not for everyday home monitoring.
Medical jargon in output
All audited products
Medical jargon in output
Clinical terminology in app interfaces increases anxiety. Users can't contextualise raw metrics without specialised training.
No intuitive feedback loop
All audited products
No intuitive feedback loop
No pathway from raw data to confident action. Isolated readings lack meaning — context and trends are needed to unlock value.
Stakeholder Mapping
Who's involved
Stakeholder map