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Cura

How do you remind someone without making them feel judged?

A medication support system that replaces rigid, exact-time alarms with flexible time windows, recoverable dose states, and caregiver visibility that only appears when it actually matters.

Hands holding a phone displaying the Cura daily medication schedule
Team
Independent case study
Role
UX/UI designer and researcher
Testing
2 rounds · 4 participants each
Scope
Research through prototype
  • Research Synthesis
  • Information Architecture
  • User Flows
  • Dose-State Logic
  • Prototyping
  • Usability Testing
Goal

Exact-time alarms assume medication fits a fixed schedule. In practice, doses get taken around meals, sleep, and work, and a single missed alarm can feel like a moral failure instead of a recoverable moment.

Method

Cura replaces that fixed schedule with one shared dose-state model (upcoming, due, late, taken, or missed) so timing bends to the routine instead of the other way around.

Key data: research and testing findings

4 of 4

Completed the fixed interaction

After the hidden swipe gesture was replaced with a visible tap toggle, every participant in the next testing round completed it correctly.

72.2%

Used no reminder app at all

13 of 18 survey respondents managed medication without any dedicated reminder tool before this project.

2 rounds: moderated usability testing.Four participants each, covering setup, the daily schedule, and dose recovery.

Problem → solution overview

Three research conclusions shaped the state model and interface.

Exact-time alarms fought real routines

Cura setup screen for defining flexible morning, afternoon, and evening time windows

Replace fixed alarm times with flexible time windows tied to when doses actually happen: around meals, sleep, and work.

Late and missed felt like the same failure

Expanded late-dose Cura notification with recovery actions

Split the state model into upcoming, due, late, taken, and missed, so a recoverable moment does not trigger the same alarm as a missed one.

Caregiver visibility felt like surveillance

Cura family-support setup screen explaining optional caregiver visibility

Show caregivers only meaningful exceptions instead of constant monitoring, with consent built into setup.

The final prototype.

One shared dose state, surfaced differently for the person taking medication and the caregiver supporting them.

Cura system overview combining the daily schedule, reminders, adherence history, and caregiver information
Daily schedule, reminders, and caregiver view · final composition
1 / 8
Cura onboarding interface
OnboardingSetting flexible time windows before any medication is added.
Cura medication setup interface
Medication setupScan, search, or enter a medication manually.
Cura today interface
TodayThe daily schedule organized around the current routine window.
Cura taken interface
TakenImmediate confirmation once a dose is marked complete.
Cura due interface
DueA due reminder with direct taken, snooze, or skip actions.
Cura late interface
LateA recoverable state instead of an automatic miss.
Cura history interface
HistoryDose status preserved across the day.
Cura caregiver interface
CaregiverOptional visibility limited to meaningful exceptions.

Contributions

The work combined behavioral research, state-model definition, interaction design, and usability testing.

Learnings

Three lessons changed how the final system was framed and designed.

Research and synthesis

Ran a survey and interviews, then synthesized adherence behavior into the flexible time-window concept.

01

A hidden gesture is not a control.

Swipe-to-complete felt natural to design, but no participant discovered it without being told. Every meaningful action needs a visible, discoverable control.

System and states

Defined the upcoming, due, late, taken, and missed dose states shared across every screen.

02

Timing should model behavior, not the clock.

Exact-time alarms fight how people actually take medication, which happens around meals, sleep, and work, not at a fixed minute.

UX/UI and testing

Designed the wireframes and visual interface, then ran two rounds of moderated usability testing.

03

Recoverable and missed are not the same state.

Separating late from missed removes guilt from a moment that is still fixable, and only escalates to a caregiver when it truly matters.

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