Actigraph — Brian Donlin | Industrial Design

Actigraph: Centrepoint insight watch

Actigraph’s medical-grade activity trackers are used for clinical research. Researchers lend them to patients to wear every day, then analyze the data collected to determine the effects of new treatments. Their biggest problem: compliance. If a patient isn’t wearing the tracker, there’s a gap in research data. To maximize uptime, we gave it a 30-day battery and made it look more like a consumer smartwatch, so users would actually want to wear it. We also shipped it with a quick-release strap, so users can easily customize with their own band. Actigraph hasn’t sent devices into the field yet, but they’re expecting a major uptick in compliance.

Project completed at Optimal Design.

The researchers want compliance.

Above all else, researchers want their subjects to wear the tracker for as much time as possible, so we needed to design something people would actually *want* to wear. We also incorporated a 30-day battery to minimize charging frequency, and waterproof (IP68) housing so it can be worn in the shower.

But the wearer could be anyone.

Research participants could be any age or gender, any lifestyle or mindset. How do you design something that appeals to such diverse styles?

It should be customizable…

Early on, we decided to incorporate a quick-release watch band, so the end user can swap it out for their favorite 18mm band.

…and the design should be friendly, yet refined.

Subtle, pillowed surfaces. Crisp edges. Satin finish. Black. We found these traits strike a balance between masculine and feminine, between minimalist and expressive.

Back to Projects