Based on a user-centered and participatory design process, TiY is an open-ended editor that enables users to journal their blood glucose values (mmol/L or mg/dl) and insulin intakes (basal and rapid) with the option of adding notes and photos. In addition to this, users can create highly customizable personal categories of data called 'Tags'. Tags are meant to record virtually anything that matter in a personal situation, and they allow the adaptation of self-monitoring practices to the variability of individual cases and the chronic and ubiquitous nature of diabetes.
Thus, users can extend their records with pictures, notes and user-generated tags either as attachments to glucose readings or as independent entries. During our evaluation of earlier prototypes users found it useful to generate a wide variety of tags to suit different needs: meal tags to highlight pre- and post-meal readings; tags to track sports and other physical activities (gym, walking, running, swimming, etc); diet tags to track intake of, for instance, carbohydrates, fat, fibers, snacks, and new food; tags for medical tests such as HbA1c, Ketones, and CBC; medications; individual symptoms; daily activities; and more.
A key element of the TiY platform is the possibility to richly visualize and compare data of your choice in a graph. TiY enables a high degree of customization of graphs to better suit the need to maintain a simple view of the data while at the same time allowing users to spot complex patterns, meaningful correlations and long term trends.
TiY is developed at the Interaction Design Centre (www.idc.ul.ie) and is part of a broader research project called FutureCOMM, which if funded by HEA Ireland under the 4th PRTLI program.
Unique features:
- Attach pictures, notes and user-generated tags to your glucose readings and insulin intakes;
- Format tags according to their nature by taking advantage of a comprehensive set of metrics, units (TiY features unit conversion), colors and icons;
- Freely browse, sort, format, edit, and search your data log;
- Create a graphical view of your data log: select what data to visualize; access a wide range of visualization options (average, median, normal ranges, bar charts, line charts, etc); view data in hours, days or months; split graphs to compare different times of day; overlap data from different time periods.
