Enterally
A comprehensive tube feeding management application
TL;DR
Summary: There are an estimated 200,000 pediatric patients with feeding tubes at any given time in the United States. As a former pediatric dietitian, I guided families through the tube feeding process from initial placement through long-term management and saw the deficits in our current healthcare system that allowed information and knowledge to slip through the cracks. I spoke with caregivers of children with feeding tubes about their experiences and then created an application that would aid in the management of these complex plans. This application fills a need in a market where there are currently no comparable products; Enterally will empower caregivers to harness all the information and resources they needed to successfully and confidently manage their child’s tube feeding plan
Role: Researcher, UX/UI Designer (solo project)
Methods: Directed storytelling, research synthesis, competitive analysis, usability studies, wireframing, site mapping, high-fidelity prototyping
Tools: Figma, Trello, Otter,ai, Google Suite
The Problem
Tube feeding - or enteral nutrition - is a largely unseen part of our medical system. There are many different types of feeding tubes, reasons a child would need them, and ways to use them. The process of getting a feeding tube placed for your child is nearly always an unexpected and overwhelming process. Hospital environments are unpredictable and our current healthcare systems have gaps that tube-fed patients and their families are often lost within.
Management of a feeding plan requires expertise from dietitians and other providers with training and experience. However, these types of providers are not ubiquitous, and dietitian visits are poorly reimbursed through insurance. Because of this, caregivers are often left to discover their own resources, connections, and support system.
As someone who worked in this space and was deeply frustrated by the gaps in user experience, I leveraged my UX skills to create an application that would empower caregivers to leverage the resources they have, connect with a larger support network, and hold the power of their own information that can be transported across the different sectors of the healthcare system
The Process
Discovery
I conducted interviews that ranged from 40-90 minutes with 4 families who had children with feeding tubes at some point in their lives. I utilized directed storytelling to learn about their experiences with feeding tube placement and what the management of their child’s feeding plan looked like after discharge from the hospital
What I learned confirmed my experience as an inpatient dietitian who guided caregivers through the experience from initial tube placement through long-term management
The major themes that emerged from this research included:
Inconsistency in onboarding and training with a new feeding tube
Unclear instructions about follow-up plans and the need for ongoing management
Frustration with continuity of care: information is often lost between sectors of the healthcare system. Some examples include:
Electronic medical records (EMRs) are not consistent between providers so information is lost. For example, a child’s growth charts from their primary care doctor may not be available to a dietitian in the inpatient setting
Inconsistent recommendations from providers with little experience in managing tube feedings
Inability to access information from a previously available source. For example, videos on how to care for a feeding tube are available in the hospital but not accessible once a patient is home
Research
A competitive analysis was done to assess what other products exist in this space
Currently, there is no application that provides both information and plan management opportunities for pediatric tube feedings
Comparable products included general baby-tracking applications and those designed for professionals who create enteral nutrition plans
Wireframing & prototyping
I created low-fidelity wireframes to visualize how these categories could be organized and interact with each other. Because of the complex nature of the interactions and calculations, this took several iterations. I tested these wireframes with users which helped further refine the usability and architecture of information. This was tested with parents who had experience with using baby tracking apps, but not necessarily parents of tube-fed children due to difficulty recruiting participants in this niche market
Next, I developed a high-fidelity prototype of one user flow in Figma. A design system was created to that building out the remaining user flows will be an efficient process
The Results
A high-fidelity clickable prototype was made for the main “nutrition” section of the application
The resulting application addresses the biggest needs of the users based on interviews with families in this space
The Takeaways
Pediatric patients who are fed via feeding tube are a significant yet underrepresented population
Their families and caregivers currently are responsible for organizing and managing the feeding plans with little support or continuity of care
This application solves those problems by putting a child’s information back in the hands of their caregivers and empowering users with information that is presented in a simple and understandable way
This application does not replace the role of a dietitian or MD but can help significantly improve care by empowering parents with the information that they need to be most successful
