Excessive secretions and coughing impacts patients with various pulmonary disorders. Cough & mucus removal has ranked the second (next to shortness of breath) most common complaints from patient with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease).  Artus is a handheld device that is designed to help COPD patients cough and remove secretions more effectively to allow for longer relief.  

I'm the design lead on this project, engaging engineering, clinical research, and marketing to develop this product collaboratively.  The scope of my work includes product development, soft goods, accessory development, and packaging. Currently, this project is under development and expecting initial launch later this year. 

We started our involvement in this project by design research consisting of in home patient interviews, focus group observation, clinical trial observation and internal handheld device ergonomic study. The out put was user experience flow (day in the life of hyper secretion patients),  stakeholder maps, and personas. 

User Experience Flow Creation

Workshop Facilitation: 3 days workshop to bring project management, marketing, engineering (include the engineering lead, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer & software engineer) and industrial designers, design directors together to co-create.

Outcome of the Workshop:  6 sets of quick mock-ups and a range of sketch and posters representing each concept. Based on the feedback from different stakeholders in the workshop, we created 6 sets of after workshop foam models to take into user testing.

Architecture Phase Focus Group Testing with COPD patients

The testing results informed our architecture direction and drove the second round of architecture exploration including charging and cleaning solutions. This process of  funnel in and expand out were repeated a few times in the project to allow iterations of the selected concept and ensure the user voice was heard and taken into design consideration. The architecture on the upper right was chosen as a the main direction for the next phase. 

Following the architecture phase was the product archetype creation. The goal of this round of exploration was to optimize the selected concepts with the focus on grip ergonomics, form and aesthetics fitting to the brand language and our product portfolio

3 Archetype concepts were generated embodying higher definition of different user touch points

Archetype CAD and Renderings 

 Along side the product form exploration, we also spent effort exploring and identify the major user interaction points: the control & buttons.  Based on the products function, it helps patients to remove secretions more effectively via 2 methods: Loosening and Cough Segmentation.  The focus of this study was to define the use case, and explore ways to indicate the two functions without confusion and allow the user to switch between the two modes quickly.  A few concepts were created to take into user testing

The Archetype Model Marking: 3 archetype models were made using CNC and finished in house. The models represented the actual product weight and distribution. They were taken to user testing conducted  in the US and Europe along with product renderings

Archetype Phase: user testing consisted of focus groups and in-home visits both in US and Europe with our research partner. Qualitative and quantitative studies ensured that we maximized our learning to deliver on the final design intent. 

Engineering Integration and Design Intent Finalization: Close Collaboration with Engineers on Components fit, parts break up, tooling requirements, form & proportion adjustment, engineering CAD file matching and functional detail implementation and simplification.  

Color Testing & Product Design Intent Delivery: After working closely with the engineering team and marketing on color studies and quantitative testing, the design Intent was delivered together with product design specification and material finish specification.

Pe-Production: The final build closely maintained our design intent with all technical details minimized and simplified. The device together with accessories (see soft goods portion of this project) are expected to launch later this year.