No Sweat

same body, new life
case
How might we estimate the number of treatments needed to stay dry for those with excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis)?
roles
Teresa - Design lead, PM
Mike - Dev lead
Hitomi - Web designer
Carl - Graphic illustrations
Sayumi - Animation
industry
Healthcare
The app on a mobile mock with a wave behind it The app on a mobile mock with a wave behind it
Hyperhidrosisーa silent disorder
“You’re so clammy.”
At least 365 million people in the world suffer from excessive and uncontrollable sweating. Imagine dripping sweat even while outside in the dead of winter. I am just one in that statistic.
“Stop sweating.”
There are no cures, but there are many treatments with varying side effects, cost, and efficacy. Iontophoresis, the process of electrocuting an area at a low voltage, has been clinically proven to be the most effective.

But getting dry isn’t an easy task even with iontophoresis. While some can see results in only 1 treatment, others need 15. It all depends on where the individual is on the hyperhidrosis severity.

As a result, sufferers need to treat themselves as a science experiment. So what can we do to help?
challenge
Make getting dry easier



challenge
Make getting dry easier


The app showing a graph with sweat levels decreasing
vision
Track treatments, visualize efforts
Millions are desperate to stay dry, but they must still rely on notebooks, Trello, Calendar apps, and more.

No Sweat will be the first to deliver a treatment tracker connecting the dots between treatments and sweat reduction.
Launch page »
vision
Track treatments, visualize efforts
Millions are desperate to stay dry, but they must still rely on notebooks, Trello, Calendar apps, and more.

No Sweat will be the first to deliver a treatment tracker connecting the dots between treatments and sweat reduction.
Launch page »
discovery
Making the first useful app for hyperhidrosis
Time-saving tip: Only read the highlighted words for a summary of this section.
Opportunity
&
Competition
Opportunity & Competition
Hyperhidrosis is a fairly uncharted territory. Medical knowledge is vastly limited and the digital market is bare. No Sweat is the first app to predict the number of treatments needed to be dry.

◥   There are a handful of out-of-touch apps sharing homeopathic treatments claiming to stop excessive sweating.
◥   There are a few individuals who voiced on Reddit and Facebook their desires to create an app with similar functions.
Research
Iontophoresis is the most effective treatment, but it’s not an exact science. The two basic materials are water and electricity. Results can change with adjustments.

Through research, I found that sufferers tinker with the water type (tap, mineral, boiled, bottled, salted, etc.) and the current’s strength. Sufferers have also changed their diet (caffeine-free, sugar-free, spice-free, etc.) in hopes of improving results.

Yet they still can’t answer this question: “How many treatments will make me dry?”
Constraints
&
Refocus
Constraints & Refocus
Initially, I wanted No Sweat to create a personal treatment schedule. I realized this isn't currently possible due to limited medical knowledge.

Iontophoresis treatments consist of 2 phasesー the initial to get dry and the maintenance to stay dry. They change in length depending on the person’s severity, triggers, mood, weather, and more. What medical knowledge we do know is that some only need a few sessions, while others need 2-6 weeks' worth to see results.

Thus, the central goal of No Sweat was shifted:
◥   to predict the monthly average number of treatments needed to reduce sweat
Key Solution Elements
After sharpening No Sweat’s focus, we concluded that No Sweat will track elements in line with published scientific research, including the 2017 study by Walia, Rathore, and Jaiswal.

When predicting how many treatments are needed to stay dry, the following are recorded:
  1. degree of sweat
  2. the strength of the electricity
  3. date of treatment
  4. temperature of the day
explorations & design
Iterate, iterate, and iterate
Hyperhidrosis Severity Scale & Timeline

When new users start onboarding, we ask them whether they have mild, moderate, or severe hyperhidrosis.

I explored giving an expected results timeline based on recommendations from a top iontophoresis machine manufacturer; however, I scrapped it. The machines on the market vary greatly and some even make their own.

This timeline could turn the user away from iontophoresis if, in actuality, the process is longer due to differences in the machines.
wireframes
A screen with lots of information about the definition of each hyperhidrosis level and estimates of how many weeks are needed to be dry
Preemptively told users when they should expect to be dry
mvp 0.5
A screen with three graphics depicting sweat levels and question marks if user needs the definitions
A screen with lots of information about the definition of each hyperhidrosis level and estimates of how many weeks are needed to be dry and a screen with three graphics depicting sweat levels and question marks if user needs the definitions
Tracking Habits

Initially, I designed with the assumption that those with hyperhidrosis want to log every day to provide data for the algorithm. That means opening the app regardless of whether they sweated or not.

I learned through no-code testing that they want to spend as little time as possible getting dry. After all, iontophoresis already takes about 30 mins per area.

That’s why No Sweat sends a reminder where they can easily select that they didn’t sweat.
A pop-up asking users if they sweated that day or not
A comparison between an earlier bar graph versus line graph
Data Visualization

In my earlier designs, I had graphed the daily degree of sweat against mA strength. I found that this provided the hyperhidrosis sufferers little value.

What they want to know is when they will be dry. That’s why I revisualized the data to explicitly tell them how many more treatments are needed to have "No Sweat."
A wallpaper of all the screens in No Sweat A wallpaper of all the screens in No Sweat
the beta app & site
Getting your life back is no sweat
Currently, we are beta testing on TestFlight. Initial feedback and constraints have pivoted the product and with continuous iterations, we hope hyperhidrosis sufferers can successfully calculate their personal treatment schedule.

So far, we have achieved the following: