The Helping Hand, IDAS I

People who need to take many pills every day need a device so simple and easy to use that no instructions or manuals is needed.

The Helping Hand, IDAS I is an intelligent medicine compartment designed to protect, remind and guide users. By helping users to achieve better compliance, the device provides efficient treatment and improved quality of life. The Helping Hand is programmed to recognize pill types and guide users to take their medicine correctly by discrete sound and light signals. It will show if medicine has already been taken and indicate user compliance by means of a green, yellow or red light. As a personal device, it can be adjusted to daily user routines. The Helping Hand is designed to be intuitive and functional. Buttons and displays have been left out, making The Helping Hand easy and safe to use from day one.

The most important finding of the research process for designers B&O was the difference between what is possible to design and what is the right thing to design. They found out that a lot of things were possible, for instance an indicator on each pill tracking time and use. However, research on ergonomics, research on the target group, market analysis, production analysis, distribution analysis, usability tests and technical research resulted in three simple words: Protect, remind and guide.