skip to Main Content
design lab uc san diego dexcom automation

A New Partnership Seeks to Inject User Trust into Diabetes Management Technology

A New Partnership Seeks to Inject User Trust into Diabetes Management Technology

A New Partnership Seeks to Inject User Trust into Diabetes Management Technology

Advances in healthcare technology are revolutionizing the management of diabetes. Continuous glucose monitoring systems paired with automated insulin delivery pumps mean repeated finger sticks, blood testing and self-administered insulin injections are quickly becoming things of the past.

While on one hand automation means freedom—giving some diabetics more options to fit their busy lifestyles than ever before—it also brings new issues for patients and caregivers alike. One of these issues is trust.

(DIY Designer OpenAPS “rig” – Courtesy of OpenAPS founder Dana Lewis)

A new partnership between the UC San Diego Design Lab and Dexcom is tackling the trust issue with a pilot project that aims to understand, measure and design for trust in healthcare automation.

“Rapid technological advances in the automation of insulin delivery offer tremendous promise for people living with the disease. Engendering the right level of trust in these new technologies is critical,” said Tomas C. Walker, Senior U.S. Medical Director with Dexcom. “Dexcom is committed to improving the lives of people living with diabetes and we are proud to partner with UCSD on this project.”

Medical Technology Designed for People

The team, led by Eliah Aronoff-Spencer, director of the Center for Health Design, Design Lab fellow Lars Mueller and Ben West, a project manager at Dexcom and diabetes patient himself, is re-thinking how healthcare technology is designed.

“When we speak of trust in relation to healthcare automation, we mean the willingness to rely on a device, accepting some vulnerability, with the expectation of a positive outcome,” Mueller explained. “Technology is unlikely to be used if not trusted. We have to understand and measure how trust is formed to build systems that not only work, but are used in the complexity of daily life.”

To do this, they are integrating human-centered design methods that place the needs of people at the forefront. The first step is listening to diabetics to understand their daily challenges, as well as what’s working.

During the first year of the pilot project, Aronoff-Spencer and Mueller are busy in their lab at the Qualcomm Institute gathering and analyzing feedback from dozens of patients, their families, caregivers and others. Once finished, they will begin creating and delivering the next generation of user-centered products alongside Dexcom.

“People struggle with this disease every day. And while our ultimate goal is to cure diabetes, which will take time, the next best step is to make it as manageable and invisible as possible,” Aronoff-Spencer said. “Delivering technology that works with people, and that people trust will work for them, is a significant step forward and one that’s incredibly exciting.”

For more information on this project and the Center for Health Design, visit http://c4h.ucsd.edu/.

Advances in healthcare technology are revolutionizing the management of diabetes. Continuous glucose monitoring systems paired with automated insulin delivery pumps mean repeated finger sticks, blood testing and self-administered insulin injections are quickly becoming things of the past.

While on one hand automation means freedom—giving some diabetics more options to fit their busy lifestyles than ever before—it also brings new issues for patients and caregivers alike. One of these issues is trust.

(DIY Designer OpenAPS “rig” – Courtesy of OpenAPS founder Dana Lewis)

A new partnership between the UC San Diego Design Lab and Dexcom is tackling the trust issue with a pilot project that aims to understand, measure and design for trust in healthcare automation.

“Rapid technological advances in the automation of insulin delivery offer tremendous promise for people living with the disease. Engendering the right level of trust in these new technologies is critical,” said Tomas C. Walker, Senior U.S. Medical Director with Dexcom. “Dexcom is committed to improving the lives of people living with diabetes and we are proud to partner with UCSD on this project.”

Medical Technology Designed for People

The team, led by Eliah Aronoff-Spencer, director of the Center for Health Design, Design Lab fellow Lars Mueller and Ben West, a project manager at Dexcom and diabetes patient himself, is re-thinking how healthcare technology is designed.

“When we speak of trust in relation to healthcare automation, we mean the willingness to rely on a device, accepting some vulnerability, with the expectation of a positive outcome,” Mueller explained. “Technology is unlikely to be used if not trusted. We have to understand and measure how trust is formed to build systems that not only work, but are used in the complexity of daily life.”

To do this, they are integrating human-centered design methods that place the needs of people at the forefront. The first step is listening to diabetics to understand their daily challenges, as well as what’s working.

During the first year of the pilot project, Aronoff-Spencer and Mueller are busy in their lab at the Qualcomm Institute gathering and analyzing feedback from dozens of patients, their families, caregivers and others. Once finished, they will begin creating and delivering the next generation of user-centered products alongside Dexcom.

“People struggle with this disease every day. And while our ultimate goal is to cure diabetes, which will take time, the next best step is to make it as manageable and invisible as possible,” Aronoff-Spencer said. “Delivering technology that works with people, and that people trust will work for them, is a significant step forward and one that’s incredibly exciting.”

For more information on this project and the Center for Health Design, visit http://c4h.ucsd.edu/.

Advances in healthcare technology are revolutionizing the management of diabetes. Continuous glucose monitoring systems paired with automated insulin delivery pumps mean repeated finger sticks, blood testing and self-administered insulin injections are quickly becoming things of the past.

While on one hand automation means freedom—giving some diabetics more options to fit their busy lifestyles than ever before—it also brings new issues for patients and caregivers alike. One of these issues is trust.

(DIY Designer OpenAPS “rig” – Courtesy of OpenAPS founder Dana Lewis)

A new partnership between the UC San Diego Design Lab and Dexcom is tackling the trust issue with a pilot project that aims to understand, measure and design for trust in healthcare automation.

“Rapid technological advances in the automation of insulin delivery offer tremendous promise for people living with the disease. Engendering the right level of trust in these new technologies is critical,” said Tomas C. Walker, Senior U.S. Medical Director with Dexcom. “Dexcom is committed to improving the lives of people living with diabetes and we are proud to partner with UCSD on this project.”

Medical Technology Designed for People

The team, led by Eliah Aronoff-Spencer, director of the Center for Health Design, Design Lab fellow Lars Mueller and Ben West, a project manager at Dexcom and diabetes patient himself, is re-thinking how healthcare technology is designed.

“When we speak of trust in relation to healthcare automation, we mean the willingness to rely on a device, accepting some vulnerability, with the expectation of a positive outcome,” Mueller explained. “Technology is unlikely to be used if not trusted. We have to understand and measure how trust is formed to build systems that not only work, but are used in the complexity of daily life.”

To do this, they are integrating human-centered design methods that place the needs of people at the forefront. The first step is listening to diabetics to understand their daily challenges, as well as what’s working.

During the first year of the pilot project, Aronoff-Spencer and Mueller are busy in their lab at the Qualcomm Institute gathering and analyzing feedback from dozens of patients, their families, caregivers and others. Once finished, they will begin creating and delivering the next generation of user-centered products alongside Dexcom.

“People struggle with this disease every day. And while our ultimate goal is to cure diabetes, which will take time, the next best step is to make it as manageable and invisible as possible,” Aronoff-Spencer said. “Delivering technology that works with people, and that people trust will work for them, is a significant step forward and one that’s incredibly exciting.”

For more information on this project and the Center for Health Design, visit http://c4h.ucsd.edu/.

Read Next

Enrique Zavala

Enrique Zavala on Empathy in Design | Design Chats


Enrique Zavala, Research Assistant at UC San Diego, speaks on the importance of being empathetic in design research.

Design Chats is a video series where we sit down with design practitioners to answer questions about how they utilize human-centered design.

View our Design Chats playlist on the Design Lab YouTube Channel
Ucsd San Diego

Civic Design – DSGN 160: Open Enrollment

This studio course explores how to design products, services, and policies for complex socio-technical systems. The class will follow a human-centered design process that includes user research, concept generation, prototyping, pitching, and alliance building. Students will work in teams to design solutions to civic challenges affecting people in the San Diego region. This will be a good course for intermediate to advanced design students who want to build up their portfolio and to practice their skills with sketching, storyboarding, prototyping, and evaluating services for real-world problems.

As part of this class, teams will enter the Design for San Diego 2020 challenge (D4SD.org) and interact with other innovators, experts, and mentors throughout the city to address problems related to Mobility, Health, Environment, and Housing. Top teams will have an opportunity to present their work and win prizes at events in downtown San Diego!
Design Lab Microsoft Adobe Workday Students

Design Lab Students Team with Microsoft, Adobe & Workday for Summer Projects

Steven Rick, Ailie Fraser, and Elmer Barerra are graduate and undergraduate students of the Design…

Trolley Stops Designathon UCSD Design Lab

Designathon Seeks to Reimagine Trolley Stops

On April 6+7, 2019, on UC San Diego campus Warren Mall, over 200+ students, neighbors, designers, technologists, and media-makers will come together for the Pepper Canyon Mobility Hub Designathon, an event developing proposals that will support the transformation Pepper Canyon Trolley Station at UCSD campus, currently under construction, into a dynamic, multimodal mobility hub. The event is produced through a partnership between The UC San Diego Design Lab, SANDAG, UC San Diego Campus Planning, the UC San Diego Young Planners’ Society, Sixth College Culture, Art, Technology program, and UC San Diego Urban Planning Program.

Telestration: How Helena Mentis Applies Design Thinking to Surgery

Helena Mentis is the director of the Bodies in Motion Lab at University of Maryland, Baltimore County…

Design Lab Uc San Diego Don Norman Creative Education

Rethinking Design Education

Don Norman, Design Lab Director

The Challenge

The requirements of the 21st century are quite different than those of earlier years. New needs continually arise, along with new tools, technologies, and materials. Designers are starting to address some of the major societal issues facing the planet. Does design education prepare them to work with and lead the multidisciplinary teams required to work on these complex sociotechnical systems?

The Origins

We are embarking on a serious effort to rethink design education for the 21st century. We started with the multiple thoughtful articles in two special issues of the journal She Ji on design education (download from our website). This inspired us to assemble a team of senior designers from academia and business to serve as a steering committee to start a large effort to rethink design education.
Back To Top