Following from our own Milk Monitor app and the Baby Lullaby app that we made for Decca a while ago we’ve been playing around with ideas about tracking personal data for other health related purposes.  We’ve developed an idea called Symptoms Diary that we thought we would share on our blog.

The Symptoms Diary enables users to track recurring symptoms that are of concern to them so that data could be collated and presented to a medical practitioner to help the diagnosis of a potential illness or problem.

The Symptoms Diary app enables users to add, edit and browse data in a visually accessible and simple manner. The functionality is stripped down to provide the necessary focus i.e. allowing the user to easily enter data and recognise patterns / recurring symptoms. We’ve devised the app navigation into five sections: Diary, Help, Donate, Export and Settings. Donate was added as a way for users to gift money to charities working within the health sector. 

By using the calendar view the user can easily enter data for the current day (and previous days if they had forgotten to enter data), modify data, and see recurring symptoms and patterns. Tapping a day would open the day view where users are able to rate their symptoms, access information specific to the symptoms and add personal notes. A pencil icon in the calendar view indicates where notes have been added. Users can export reports that they can send via e-mail and set up alerts / reminders to enter symptoms at specific times.

In terms of the overall look and feel we’ve tried to strike a balance between an app that is easy to use with something that is both friendly and modern. We’ve added textures to the interfaces to make the app feel more intimate and personable without distracting from the core purpose of the app.  We’ve tried to make the app feel that it belongs to something medical whilst being at the same time soothing & calming.