MedEasy: the medicine is at home. Somewhere.
An app that helps families find, identify and track the medicines they already own, using AR to point at the right strip in a messy medicine box.
Master's thesis, M.Des UX
2020
Mobile app + AR mode
Adobe XD · Illustrator
Rahul has a stomach ache. The medicine is in the house. Nobody can find it.
He ignored the pain for three days. Tonight it's unbearable and he's feverish. His wife Madhavi opens the family medicine box and this is how the next hour goes:
DiscoveryShe finds a thermometer, then starts looking for something for stomach pain.
ResearchToo many strips. Some have no name or expiry left on them.
DecisionShe gives up and buys medicine at the pharmacy.
AfterBack home, she spots the same medicine. Its name had been torn off. She recognises it now by shape and colour.
The problem wasn't a missing medicine. It was not knowing what was already at home, or whether it was still usable.
Every household had its own workaround. None of them worked well.
I started with unstructured interviews about how people store, identify and track medicines, then ran a survey with families of two or more and people living alone, aged 18–60.
60survey responses
89%have an elderly person or a blood-pressure patient at home
32%have someone in the healthcare industry
They buy medicine they already have, because they don't know it's there.
Cut strips and loose tablets have no name or expiry date left.
A large share of stored medicine is past its expiry date.
Print is too small to read, especially for middle-aged and elderly people.
Parents stick white tape on strips and write the purpose by hand.
Medicines end up wherever is quickest: a purse, an office bag, the kitchen table.
Medicine feels like insurance. Managing it feels like a chore.
Say"All medicines don't fit in a single box." "The use isn't written on the packet."
DoCheck stock only when a medicine runs out. Group strips in plastic bags by disease.
Think"What was the medicine name?" "Where have I kept it?"
FeelSafe having medicine at home. Anxious and irritated when searching for it.
How they organise
Expiry dateLabels by useType of diseasePrescribed vs notWeekly pill boxAll together
How they remember intake
Phone remindersA noteSomeone reminds themWriting on the coverRoutinePhoto of the prescription
The person who manages everyone's medicines.
MB
Mrs. Madhavi BhideHomemaker, late 20s, married, living in a joint family
She lives with her husband, three children and her in-laws, who are on regular medication. Once a month she organises the medicines and finds duplicates with different expiry dates.
She wants toKnow what's at home before buyingFind an alternative if the usual one is missingTrack expiry dates regularlyFind medicines quickly
What gets in the waySearching takes too longNames and expiry get torn offSmall print is hard to readLoose, non-prescribed tablets
As-needed usersReach for the box in a hurry, like Rahul's stomach ache.
Regular medication usersHer mother-in-law's diabetes and BP pills. One ran out after dinner; it took 4–5 shops to find.
How might we…
01…know, before buying, whether a medicine is already at home?
02…make the details on a strip's back cover easy to understand?
03…know which medicine to take for which disease?
04…keep records of medicines with their expiry dates?
05…prevent buying the same medicine again and again?
Ask for it. Point at the box. It lights up.
MedEasy helps people find, identify and track medicines at home. It has two modes, so it still works on a weak connection.
AR ModePoint the camera at the storage. Matching strips are highlighted with a name and the tablets left.
Default ModeFor weaker internet. Search by voice or typing and see front and back photos of each pack.
Register onceScan the front and back, so details survive a torn strip.
Log what's used"Consume now" or "later" keeps the count accurate.
A storage deviceA concept that dispenses a named person's regular medicines.
Pick a mode
Say "Fever"
Point at the box
Tap a highlighted strip
Consume now or later
Key screens
Home · AR selection · Registered medicine details
See all screens on Behance
What I'd take further today.
MedEasy was my master's thesis on emerging technology. Revisiting it, these are the next steps I'd prioritise:
Test with real familiesUsability testing and outcome metrics for the AR search.
Reminders & expiry alertsScreens for the HMWs the concept doesn't cover yet.
Design for elderly eyesLarger type, stronger contrast and voice output.
Empty & error statesLike "no medicine detected", covered in the flow but not yet drawn.
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