Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington
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Hiding in plain sight: Designing medical devices for adolescents with type 1 diabetes to match their preferences for conspicuity

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posted on 2022-03-03, 23:40 authored by Madeleine Hazelton
Adolescents with type 1 diabetes use medical devices that attract attention in public settings. While adolescents have varying experiences with this attention, current medical devices do not allow them control over the conspicuousness of self-management. Accordingly, this research used a participatory design methodology to investigate adolescents’ self-management experiences and preferences regarding conspicuity, and to develop semantic strategies to inform the design of medical devices. Adolescent participants had varied experiences using their medical devices to manage type 1 diabetes in public. Some adolescents were comfortable managing their diabetes in public and disclosing their condition to new people. However, other adolescents preferred to manage their type 1 diabetes in private and feel embarrassed disclosing their diabetes. Four semantic strategies were used to design devices that could appeal to the different preferences of adolescents: to enhance traditional medical devices to make them more beautiful, to personalise the medical device for the user, to disguise the medical device as a non-medical item, and to conceal the medical device from the public. Adolescents displayed different preferences towards these strategies and associated design concepts. As adolescents have a range of experiences and preferences, but little control over the conspicuousness of their medical devices, the study found that these medical devices could be better designed to facilitate adolescents’ agency through catering to their nuanced and differing preferences for conspicuity.

History

Copyright Date

2019-01-01

Date of Award

2019-01-01

Publisher

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington

Rights License

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Degree Discipline

Industrial Design

Degree Grantor

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington

Degree Level

Masters

Degree Name

Master of Design Innovation

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Outcome code

920501 Child Health

Victoria University of Wellington Item Type

Awarded Research Masters Thesis

Language

en_NZ

Victoria University of Wellington School

School of Design

Advisors

McCarthy, Gillian; Rodriguez Ramirez, Edgar