Towards Supporting Childhood Atopic Dermatitis Management: A User-Centered Design Approach

Childhood atopic dermatitis (AD) can have significantly negative impact on children and their primary caregivers' quality of life. Caregiver's reduced quality of life often results in poor adherence to treatment, which is a major cause of treatment failure in childhood AD. This research aims to investigate caregiver experiences and potential needs and to create a smartphone-based tracking system to help them enhance current therapeutic strategies to manage their children's AD. In this paper, we describe the first iteration of a user-centered design process to develop an effective and easy to use system. We first conducted a need-finding study involving 173 parents of children with AD and patients to identify functionalities tailored to the target users. We then developed a mock-up application to demonstrate these functionalities, including symptom drawing, care reminder, and content recommendations. Initial user testing with 7 participants showed that the initial design concept was generally well accepted and would be helpful in caring for children with AD. We discuss the challenges and opportunities for the further improvements.