Abbott Labs | Blood Glucose Meter

Abbott Labs | Blood Glucose Meter

The MediSense division of Abbott Laboratories asked us to help them take the next step with PCx, a blood glucose measurement meter used by hospitals across North America. Abbott introduced PCx in 1998, and it quickly became one of the most commonly used hospital meters, taking significant market share away from established devices made by Bayer and Johnson&Johnson. By the summer of 2002, the competitors were gaining.

The biggest design challenge in this project was the need to satisfy two different groups with the meter: nurses & the hospital laboratory. With their different educational and professional backgrounds, laboratorians and nurses have divergent, and often divisive, goals, responsibilities, and attitudes. A successful design had to account for this cultural divide and support the needs of both groups.

We interviewed dozens of nurses during the research phase of this project, and their goals in using a glucose meter were clear: to get a measurement and make an appropriate decision as quickly as possible. Anything that stood between them and that measurement was a waste of time.

The lab needs to make sure that each measurement is accurate, that it has been acquired by a competent nurse with a calibrated meter, and that it can be tracked through time to ensure ongoing accuracy. In order to satisfy the needs of the lab, the meter needs to track and communicate information about operators, patients, measurements, and calibration times. Nurses often need to manually input information, and this takes time. Because there is not a lot of spare time at the patient’s bedside, nurses look for ways around tasks that require manual input.

Every Cooper project is a collaborative effort. To learn more, about Cooper projects and design methodology, check out “How Cooper works.“
I collaborated in the ideation and iteration of this design with Cooper designer John Dunning. John and I developed the design concepts; Chris Weeldreyer did the drawings; John did the artwork for the deliverable; I wrote and laid out the deliverable, a 70-page design specification.