Product design sprint winner
03 IndePendant
Partner/Client Demcon
Role Ideation, User studies, Detailing
The IndePendant is a wearable accessory designed to help people with COPD recognise the early signs of an exacerbation. Designed as a pendant or brooch, it blends seamlessly into daily life as an accessory rather than a medical device, supporting newly diagnosed patients in gaining earlier awareness and greater control over their condition.
The concept is building on the research of pulmonologist Dr. Sami Simons, who explores how voice analysis can detect subtle changes in speech as an early indicator of worsening respiratory health.
Process
Responding to Demcon's brief on preventive healthcare, research and benchmarking identified three opportunity areas: breast cancer detection, COPD monitoring, and at-home urine testing. Evaluated through the three lenses of innovation, COPD monitoring emerged as the strongest direction, resulting in the concept that won first place in the competition.
The concept builds on the ongoing research of pulmonologist Dr. Sami Simons at Maastricht UMC+, who investigates voice analysis as an early indicator of worsening respiratory health. Rather than developing a new detection method, we translated this technology into a tangible product designed for older adults, integrating it into everyday routines.
User insights revealed that successful monitoring depends not only on integrating seamlessly into daily life, but also on minimising user effort. Initial concepts required users to actively interact with a stationary device as part of their daily routine, creating an unnecessary task. MAs the primary objective was to monitor voice, inspiration was drawn from microphones and accessories naturally worn close to the mouth, leading to the development of a wearable pendant that enables passive, continuous monitoring.
Future potential
The IndePendant demonstrates how iterative research, user feedback, and reflection transformed an initially location-based monitoring device into a wearable health companion that prioritises both preventive care and seamless integration into daily routines within five days. While the concept shows promising potential, further user testing and development of the detection algorithm are required to validate and realise the final design.
Based upon medical research
Shift from stationary to wearable design
Final design
The final enclosure was refined to dimensions of approximately 40 × 31 × 10 mm. These dimensions assume the integration of a custom PCB, which would allow the electronic components to be consolidated into a single board, reducing the overall size while maintaining the intended functionality. By eliminating unnecessary components this alteration would also slightly reduce power consumption and improve battery efficiency.
Concept development
Guided by the principle of form follows function, the concept evolved into The IndePendant: a wearable pendant or brooch that seamlessly integrates into everyday life. Designed to be noticed only by its absence, it enables passive monitoring without requiring any interaction beyond wearing it. While the wearable functions independently, an optional companion app offers long-term monitoring and data visualisation for users who want deeper insights into their health.
The IndePendant was designed in collaboration with Stan Droomers and Raoul Boelaars
Collaboration
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