PortfolioRecent breakthroughs in treating Alzheimer's disease - the most common cause of dementia - are a source of optimism.[1] They are most effective, however, when delivered at the onset of the disease, requiring an early diagnosis of dementia. OECD estimates that with the aging population, about 13.4 million people will have dementia by 2030 in Europe alone.[2] Therefore, we can expect soaring demand for these treatments.
Cogneo, a venture-backed medical advisor, aims to pivot its business model, raise seed funding, and capitalize on its proprietary technology that effectively identifies early-stage dementia to address the expanding market with dementia diagnostic tools.
How can we develop a compelling demo that is device-agnostic, and will provide authentic experience without diving into complex user research?
For this project I targeted an unusual group - fund managers. To understand the potential investors I used the insight of my client, who is an investor himself. The client and I were in frequent contact and met in-person on weekly basis to discuss product iterations to optimise the experience and its fit in the fundraising process.
The scope of the demo was reduced to the diagnostic experience and a draft of the clinician's dashboard.
Target market includes Europeans aged 65+ or at risk of dementia.
Test methodology requires unchanged color scheme on a circular palette.
iPad was the likely device for the demo presentation, so we had to pay extra care to execution on that resolution.
The the demo combines the patient journey (from sign-up to results) with a draft of the clinician dashboard. Since the purpose of the demo is to tell a story I drafted a high-level concept of the structure - the Investor journey. It served as a stepping stone for low-fidelity sketches that were an effective way to quickly jot down and iterate over ideas. When I was done with the sketches, they lined up into a nice storyboard, like in a movie production.
I aimed to create sense of calm and ambience throughout the examination. During the test itself I strived for a minimalist design stripped of anything that could distract. The only thing that stands out are the colors of the palette.
I built the demo on Webflow. It enabled translating ideas right into code. Some features did not become part of the demo like this early version of a screen reader. (sound required)
Breakthroughs in Alzheimer's treatment stimulate demand for early dementia diagnostic solutions. Cogneo capitalises on its proprietary technology and aims to raise seed funding to address this developing segment. The client and I worked closely and delivered a compelling device-agnostic demo that effectively supported the fundraising efforts and conveyed the product vision.
The final product will be available only upon request for the fundraising period.
The client knew about my limited experience with programming and even more so with JavaScript, which posed an issue for maximizing the “tangibility” of the demo. The client agreed to build a watered-down experience exclusively in Webflow.
However, I wished to deliver an excellent demo... so, I picked up JavaScript.
/*counts how many buttons were pressed, disables pointer events on those pressed, and launches animations */
function buttonClick (x) {
colorCount += 1;
if (colorCount > 2) {
pageReload();
} else {
buttons[x].click();
selected[x].style.order = colorCount;
colors[x].style.pointerEvents = "none";
}
};
Considering some users could suffer from dementia, the UI needs to become even more accessible. Besides giving the demo in the hands of potential users, there are renowned institutes, such as Norman Nielsen; clinical research, such as the Commodari, Guarnera "Attention and aging" paper; and companies in similar market segments, like Alzheimer'sWA, that can provide additional guidance.
The team secured the necessary funding for further development of the diagnostic tool.
