A remote patient monitoring platform that connects patients with their doctors, enabling communication and continuous monitoring outside of traditional healthcare settings. The core goal is to reduce hospital readmissions by using AI and predictive models to detect early signs of exacerbation and risk.
Problem Statement
COPD patients were leaving the clinic with advice, but no simple way to manage their condition day to day. Early warning signs were missed, symptom tracking was inconsistent, and many patients felt anxious and alone between visits—often waiting too long before seeking help, leading to avoidable flare-ups and hospital readmissions.
The Solution
I designed the Tabiat mobile app as a calm, supportive companion for COPD patients. The app guides them through short daily check-ins, medication reminders, and gentle AI-driven nudges based on their symptoms and wearable data. The experience is intentionally simple and non-judgmental, helping patients build small, sustainable habits while giving clinicians richer, continuous insight between visits.
My Role
As the sole UX/UIDesigner at Tabiat, I led the design of our new AI-powered mobile app for COPD patients from the ground up. Partnering closely with the founders and clinical team, I helped define the product vision, translated complex care requirements into simple mobile experiences, and shaped how patients interact with symptom tracking, medications, and AI-driven insights. Through rapid discovery, prototyping, and testing, I turned abstract ideas into a supportive, easy-to-use app that keeps patients engaged between clinic visits.
The Challange
The project revealed three key challenges:
1. Keeping COPD patients engaged day-to-day
Patients were struggling to stay consistent with symptom tracking, medication routines, and follow-up care. We needed an experience that fit naturally into their daily lives, without feeling like extra work.
2. Designing AI guidance patients actually trust
Our AI models could highlight risk trends, but many patients were skeptical of “apps telling them how they feel.” The challenge was to present insights in a way that felt respectful, understandable, and grounded in their own data.
3. Creating a calm, non-judgmental experience
Many COPD patients already feel anxious, guilty, or discouraged about their health. It was crucial that the app provide a safe space—one that encourages honest reporting and progress without shaming, blaming, or overwhelming them.
Process & Approach
User Research & Understanding Target Patients
By speaking with COPD patients and caregivers across different ages and levels of digital literacy, I surfaced key patterns in behavior and motivation. We looked at:
When and why patients skipped symptom check-ins
How they felt about being reminded about medication and activity
What made them feel supported versus judged or “monitored”
We paid attention to qualitative feedback as much as metrics: how people described their good days, bad days, fears about flare-ups, and their relationship with hospitals and doctors. This helped refine our understanding of the target patient segments and what they genuinely needed from a mobile companion.
Designing a Supportive Patient Experience
Real-world feedback shaped every iteration of the app. With each round, we revisited our understanding of target users and refined the flows to better match their needs and limitations.
We introduced thoughtful interaction patterns and visuals designed to make the experience feel calm and encouraging rather than clinical and cold. For example:
Simple daily check-ins using familiar, plain language instead of medical jargon.
Soft visual cues for trends—showing progress and patterns without red “alarm” overload.
Balanced messaging that pairs warnings with reassurance and actionable next steps.
Guided recommendations that suggest when to rest, reach out to a clinician, or adjust habits, never pushing beyond what patients are comfortable doing.
This process of listening, adjusting, and iterating helped us build an experience that patients described as “reassuring” rather than “stressful.”
Collaborating with Founders and Cross-Functional Teams
I worked closely with Tabiat’s leadership to ensure the mobile app supported both patient needs and clinical workflows. I regularly presented research insights, design directions, and prototype findings to stakeholders, aligning everyone around a patient-first vision.
In parallel, I collaborated with engineering and data science to understand data constraints, refine AI outputs into patient-friendly language, and shape a roadmap that allowed us to launch with a focused, high-impact feature set while leaving room for future growth.
Impact & Key Learnings
✨ 1. Ethical design matters in chronic care
For patients living with COPD, every interaction can either ease anxiety or amplify it. Designing with restraint, clarity, and empathy is as important as any feature.
✨ 2. Trust is built through transparency and tone
Patients are more willing to engage with AI-driven guidance when they understand what’s happening with their data, can control how it’s used, and feel spoken to with respect.
✨ 3. Small habits, big outcomes
By making symptom reporting and medication routines feel simple and manageable, we laid the groundwork for better adherence, richer data for clinicians, and fewer “surprise” exacerbations.