Product Design: An Interactive Pillbox for the Elderly

As my semestser-long Senior Thesis Capstone in Graphic Design, I chose to design a pillbox that not only organizes pills, but helps the elderly remember to take them. After a long application process, I got approval from the Human Subjects Review Board and officially CITI certified to conduct interviews with the elderly population. I conducted 18 interviews with users aged 60-100, then used their direct feedback to create an interactive pillbox design.

The final design lights up individual days of the week so you know which pill to take and don’t get confused. The outside border also lights up to visually alert the user that it is time to take their pills. Additionally, one of the main reasons people forget to take their pills is that they don’t have their pills with them, so I built in a portability option to always have them with you on the go.

When I asked elderly users whether they would rather use batteries or plug it in to charge the electrical components, many responded that the batteries would be difficult for arthritis and plugging it in would be hard to remember. Since most users answered that they keep their pillbox in the same location, I decided to make a charging base design that you can easily place the pillbox on to keep it always charged and the drawer with the portable containers would be built in.

I created several designs to showcase this product concept. For starters, I created an informative graphic in PhotoShop that describes the design. Then, I made a physical prototype of the product to show proof of concept. I bought various supplies for the physical design like an arthritis-friendly pillbox, an LED light strip to wrap around the border, and individual lights to place inside each day. I also used a drawer to represent the charging base with the portable pill containers inside.

I also created a brand identity for the product. I named it “PillPro” and designed the logo while utilizing different shades of blue, since blue is the most trusted color in medical devices. With this branding, I created a package design that showcases the product and protects the electrical components.