Tracking
progress, improving
outcomes
for children in
orthopedic therapy
Managing a child’s foot brace can be a daily challenge. Parents often feel overwhelmed trying to ensure proper fit and consistent wear while tracking progress. “Getting Ethan to wear his foot brace was a struggle,” recalls Jessica, mother of a 6-year-old with Cerebral Palsy. Activepal was designed to address these challenges, providing a supportive platform for families and therapists.
Problem Statement
Caregivers of children using orthosis and physical therapy face significant challenges that hinder development:
Lack of Centralized Support: A single, accessible system is absent, complicating access to reliable information and tracking progress.
Difficulties in Progress Tracking: Manual tracking of orthosis wear time and exercises is cumbersome and error-prone, affecting motivation.
Need for Clear Guidance: Caregivers often find it challenging to properly implement therapy exercises, leading to inconsistent application and slower progress.
Product Vision: A Connected Approach to Care
Our vision for ActivePal is to empower families and therapists with a connected platform that helps caregivers track their child’s orthosis wear time, provides a structured therapy routine, and allows communication with therapists, caregivers will experience improved management and will be more likely to comply with therapy recommendations, leading to better outcomes for children with gait issues.
Understanding Our Users: David
Name: David
Father of two, including Leo (son with Cerebral Palsy)
Occupation: Business Owner
Biography : David, a 35-year-old father of two, juggles work, family, and managing his son Leo’s clubfoot treatment. He struggles with brace management, communication with the therapist, and the constant stress of it all. He needs simpler tracking, streamlined communication, and more time.
Pain Points.
❌ Brace Management is Frustrating: Getting Leo to wear his brace consistently is a daily struggle.
❌ Communication Gaps: Updates with the therapist, orthopedics, pediatrics, feel scattered, making it hard to track progress.
❌ Exercise Compliance is Inconsistent: Ensuring Leo completes his two hours of daily physical therapy exercises is another challenge.
Goals
✅ Simplified Tracking: A stress-free way to monitor Leo’s brace wear and daily exercises.
✅ Streamlined Communication: An easier way to stay connected with Leo’s therapist, orthopedic and pediatrician.
✅ Reduced Stress: Fewer daily struggles over the brace and exercises.
Key Tasks
- Communication with Therapists: Send updates or concerns to the physical therapist through the app.
- Track Orthosis Progress: Caregivers can log the amount of time their child wears the orthosis and exercise each day.
- Therapy Routine Guidance: Access and follow animated exercises and stretches designed to improve Achilles tendon flexibility.
- Progress Tracking: View the child’s progress in therapy, such as improved mobility or increased wear time.
Research: Listening to Our Users
User Interviews: We conducted in-depth interviews with 5 caregivers and 2 pediatric therapists. One key insight was the frustration caregivers felt with manually tracking wear time. As one parent explained, “It’s a constant struggle. I’m always forgetting to log it, and then I have no idea if my child is meeting their daily goal.” This insight directly informed our decision to prioritize a simple and intuitive wear time logging feature.
Surveys: A survey distributed to 20 caregivers revealed that 85% were interested in using a mobile app to manage their child’s therapy. The most desired features were wear time tracking, exercise instructions, and communication with therapists.
Competitive Analysis: Identifying Opportunities
| Feature | ActivePal | MyTherapy | PT Pal | TheraBand |
| Orthosis Tracking | ✅ | ❌ | ⚠️ | ❌ |
| Exercise Videos | ✅ | ❌ | ⚠️ | ✅ (General) |
| Therapist Communication | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Child-Specific Content | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
MyTherapy focuses on medication reminders, a different user need. While PT Pal offers some exercise tracking, it lacks orthosis wear time tracking, a critical need for our target users. TheraBand provides general exercise videos but doesn’t cater specifically to children’s therapy or integrate with orthosis management. This analysis highlighted the opportunity for ActivePal to provide a comprehensive solution.
Design Process: Iterating for Impact
- Wire-framing: We began with low-fidelity wireframes to explore different layouts for the key screens. For the wear time logging screen, we experimented with a dial-based input, a slider, and a simple time picker. User testing revealed that the time picker was the most intuitive and efficient for caregivers to use.
- Prototyping: Developed mid-fidelity prototypes in Figma to test navigation and interactivity.
- Usability Testing: We conducted usability testing with 8 caregivers. One key finding was that the initial design of the exercise routine screen was too cluttered. Participants suggested simplifying the layout and providing larger visuals of the exercises.
- Heuristic Evaluation: Conducted a heuristic evaluation to assess the app’s usability and ensure compliance with best design practices.
Design Solution
ActivePal provides a user-friendly and comprehensive platform for managing all aspects of a child’s orthosis and therapy journey. Key features include:
- A User-Friendly Dashboard: A simple, clear view of the child’s daily therapy, wear time, and progress.
- Exercise Routines: Animated exercises that caregivers can follow and perform with their child.
- Progress Tracking: Visual graphs to show wear time and progress in flexibility or mobility.
- Communication Features: A way for caregivers to send daily updates or ask questions directly to therapists within the app.
User Testing and Feedback
- Success Rate: 87% of participants successfully completed all tasks, with positive feedback regarding the app’s clean design.
- Key Findings:
- Profile Setup: 90% of users had no difficulty entering child data; a few requested more guided instructions.
- Exercise Routine: 85% of users felt the exercise animation was easy to follow, though some wanted larger visual indicators for the therapy timer.
- Progress Tracker: 80% were satisfied with progress tracking, but additional clarification on what each data point meant was requested.
- Orthosis Logging: 95% success rate, with users finding the logging process straightforward.
Final Prototype
Based on feedback, refinements were made:
- Progress Tracker Enhancements: Added tooltips for clearer data interpretation.
- Improved Exercise Timer: Made the timer button more prominent and visually engaging.
- Simplified Profile Setup: Added a drop-down list to help caregivers input therapy needs more easily.
Recommendations for Future Work
- Expand Customization: Allow caregivers to adjust reminders and exercise routines based on specific needs.
- Enhanced Onboarding: Add a tutorial for new users to guide them through the setup and use of the app.
- More Therapist Features: Add the ability for therapists to create customized plans or schedules for each child.
Conclusion
The Activepal App successfully addresses key needs of caregivers and therapists by simplifying the management of therapy routines and Orthosis. With continued refinement, the app can become an invaluable tool for improving the outcomes of children using orthosis.