COPD Research Project
Transforming COPD Research with a Patient-Centered Digital Diary
Canada – 2023 to 2025
Overview
Clinical research for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) often relies on paper-based daily diaries—a burden for patients and a data analysis headache for researchers. A Toronto hospital network sought to modernize this process with a mobile app. I led the design to transform a scientifically validated paper questionnaire into a simple, engaging daily habit without compromising research integrity.
A better user experience improved the likelihood of consistent, long-term data submission by patients.
The clinician dashboard transformed raw data into actionable insights, supporting the research goal of early exacerbation detection.
Allowed for easier analysis of research data by collecting it in digital format and displaying in a clear admin panel.
Challenges
The core constraint was enhancing the user experience without introducing variables that would invalidate the research or break comparability with prior studies. My role was to navigate the tension between user-centred design and immutable clinical rigor, finding innovative solutions within a fixed framework.
Process
I began by deeply immersing myself in the literature and original questionnaire to understand the why behind each question. This foundational knowledge established the guardrails for my ideation, allowing me to propose novel UX improvements that respected the validation requirements.
I transitioned to rapid, low-fidelity wireframing to explore mobile adaptations of the questionnaire. These wires served as collaborative artifacts to align with clinicians and researchers early, ensuring our UX direction met clinical needs before investing in detailed design.
Solution
A Patient-Friendly Mobile Diary: We built a guided, step-by-step flow that significantly reduced completion time and cognitive load.
'Carry-Forward' feature: since the diary tracks changes, the app intelligently suggested repeating prior-day entries. Patients could thus verify their status in seconds, only interacting to log changes.
A Proactive Clinician Dashboard: I advocated moving beyond static data tables to a visual 4-Day Trend View for key symptoms. This allowed clinicians to visually scan for negative trajectories and proactively contact at-risk patients, shifting the paradigm from data collection to early intervention.
Outcomes
The app successfully launched on the App Store and is actively used in COPD research. Furthermore, the design system and core architecture proved scalable, leading to a funded initiative to adapt the platform for research into other chronic diseases.