They knew heart attacks happen. Nobody knew what to do.

Cardiocare was a Philips concept for Indian adults over 30. My job: turn a far-away heart risk into something people act on daily.

Company
Philips Experience Design
Role
Product design intern, graduation project
Team
Me, design leads Praveen G and Shaon S, developers, usability specialists
Timeline
Jan 2023 to Jul 2023
Status
Concept
Outcome
iF Design Award 2024, with the team
Built with
Figma. AI: none in design, only inside the product
The whole case, in under a minute.

Problem

The gap was the next action.

Prevention has no natural trigger, so the question was where to step in. A 141-source literature review mapped the risk drivers of coronary artery disease.

What I found

Few knew their own risks. None had a next action.

I ran 18 semi-structured interviews about daily routines and coded them into four themes: no time, low motivation, a need for personalization, little awareness.

What it cost

It holds for working adults; people in cardiac care, and clinicians, are still untested.

See the affinity map
  • Most didn’t know the symptoms or the steps that prevent an attack.
  • Each theme got an answer: Learn for awareness, Routine for time and personalization, the wearable and WhatsApp for motivation.
  • The new brief: one next action inside a routine people already have.
The affinity map from the interviews: coded sticky notes in four clusters, time management, motivation, need for personalization, and lack of awareness about CAD
An interview session at Philips: two people talking across a table, a whiteboard of sticky notes behind them
Working adults, 30 to 60: managers, designers, developers.

What I decided

I chose a system.

SCAMPER opened directions from a single tracker to a full ecosystem. I scored the feasible ones in a Pugh matrix on four design principles, feasibility, and viability.

What it cost

We wrote the criteria ourselves, so the matrix reduced bias but didn’t remove judgment.

Proof

It won the tie: learning, routines, tracking, guidance, devices and WhatsApp in one service.

See the principles and the matrix
  • Minimum intrusion for maximum motivation
  • Involve major influencers for frictionless adoption of healthy habits
  • Continuous guidance for heart‑healthy living
  • Personalization for integration and sustainable habit formation
The Pugh matrix: twelve concepts scored against the four design principles, feasibility and viability, from minus one to one each. Concepts 10 and 12 both total 3; concept 12 is highlighted as the choice
Concepts 10 and 12 tied at 3, so the matrix didn’t decide. We chose 12, the connected system.
Two Ecosystem screens: an overall health score of 83, then health insights for heart, stress, environment, diet, and fitness
Two Ecosystem screens: connected devices such as a smart watch, Alexa, and an air purifier, then connected services such as Samsung Health, Google Fit, and Strava
Directions opened (SCAMPER)
24
Feasible shortlist
12
Chosen in the Pugh matrix
1

What I tested

Learn explains the risk. Routine sets today’s action.

Moderated prototype sessions tested connect, learn, act: could people find their next action without help? The team concept went on to win an iF Design Award in 2024.

My accessibility gap
  • Connect: the wearable syncs steps, stress, and heart rate; WhatsApp pulls you back.
  • Learn: a Mayo Clinic video and articles; Health Wiz answers in plain language.
  • Act: Routine turns the risk and the learning into a weekly plan for that person.

The intended users included adults over 30 with heart risk, but the accessibility claim came from using the Philips design system rather than testing the experience with people at the edges.

Until they test it, I can claim the design system’s conformance, not accessibility.

Two Learn screens: a Mayo Clinic video explaining coronary artery disease, and a list of articles on risk factors
Two Routine screens: a tailored daily plan across a week, and the same day split into upcoming and completed activities
A score, not proof: 82.1 SUS from 8 people, give or take 10 to 14 points. Clinical proof needs a longitudinal study.

Looking back

Next, I set the target before testing.

Next time I’d agree the target and minimum sample before testing, watch task success beside the survey, and ask for consent once for each data source the app connects.

Beyond the brief

Nobody had scoped interviews, so I wrote the objectives, recruited people, and ran them myself.