Johnson & Johnson

AI Coach for Managing Diabetes

Project Overview

I led a cross-functional team in developing the first AI-powered digital therapeutic experience for a J&J company.

Developed as a mobile app tested in clinical trials, the AI Coach grew out of research into the needs of patients who's average blood sugar is wildly out of control.

Project Problem Statement

How might we translate real-world behavior change interventions and therapeutic techniques into a digital service capable of improving a person's habits and lifestyle?

My role

Lead concept development
Synthesize research & Draw Insights
Guide research process
Service Design
Integrate AI capabilities & clinical Interventions into experience
Direct Design (Content Strategy, UX & UI)
Manage research agency

Tools & Methods

Research: Design-Thinking, Ethnography, Contextual Inquiry, Co-creation, Interviews (UserZoom & In-Person)Design: Sketch, Adobe CS, MS Office, Keynote, Google Workspace

Deliverables

Experience Strategy
Product Designs
Service Blueprint
Qualitative Research Synthesis
System Architecture & Logic Model
Clickable Prototype
Monthly Executive Presentations

Team

Senior Manager, Digital Experience Design (Me)
UI Designer
Behavioral Scientist
Diabetes Care & Education Specialist
AI Engineer
Agile Development Team of 3
Research Agency

About the business

Industry: HealthcareMarket: United States & CanadaSize: ~180,000 employeesHQ: New Brunswick, NJSpecialties: Diagnostic Systems & Medical Device Manufacturing

Research & Development Activities

Behavioral analysis of people with diabetes through secondary clinical research

Technical landscape analysis of the necessary data sources and J&J's AI capabilities

Observing and interviewing patients in New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles over three months

Understanding US regulations for using patient data in therapeutic settings

Understanding the day-to-day of life with diabetes through ethnographic research

Co-creating the experience with patients, doctors, and nurses

Our insights

Among people with diabetes whose condition was wildly out of control, we found that self-managing through tools, no mater how easy to use, didn't address the real issues.

These patients needed help with the behaviors that led to their condition, and that help needed to be empathetic, simple to use, and specific to the moments that were most challenging for the individual.

Our hypotheses

If we could break the coaching process down to discrete challenges tailored to someone's immediate needs and abilities, then we could turn incremental changes into meaningful improvements to their health over time.

A service based on J&J's patented behavioral science interventions focusing on problem solving and action planning, coupled with high-quality educational content specific to the patient's data could relieve significant burdens for the people having the most trouble.

What we did

First we needed to better understand the truth of life with diabetes. What were the challenges facing people with wildly out of control glycated haemoglobin levels.

Our subject matter experts felt that the only way to really make a difference would be to have a personal chef, a nurse, a personal trainer, and a life coach follow patients around 24 hours a day.

Our team had extensive experience talking to people with type-2 diabetes and was able to map out their typical journey. This allowed us to target users who we could impact the most, and who's needs would extend to the larger population.

Once we had a handle on the ins and outs of life with diabetes for our target users, we were able to identify what we needed our service to do.