The Kite Project
Our Mission
We are a community of designers, researchers, and healthcare practitioners who are
passionate about empowering chronically-ill teenagers & young adults to live more
independent, fulfilling lives.
We leverage our expertise in Human-Centered Design to conceive unique solutions that aim to improve the care management experience for chronically-ill teenagers and their families.
Millions of children live with chronic conditions in the US
15%-18% of the children in the United States have some form of chronic illness or disability. Some of the most common chronic conditions include: Asthma, Diabetes, Cancer and Congenital Heart Disease.
Navigating the healthcare ecosystem is tough
The Pediatric Healthcare Space is a complex, multi-stakeholder ecosystem fraught with its own set of unique challenges. Certain medical conditions may require the patient to see 3-4 specialists who may be geographically dispersed across different states or districts.
A link between positive habits & better outcomes
Because chronic illnesses are lifelong conditions that require positive care management habits. There is a huge difference in outcomes between patients who are engaged & proactively monitoring their conditions & those who are passively suffering through it.
A deep-dive to understand the user journey
Over the last year, we conducted ethnographic user research & interviewed chronically-ill teenagers, their parents, teachers & healthcare providers to understand the journey in more depth. It quickly became evident that certain touchpoints in their journey required a lot more support & scaffolding than others.
Initial diagnosis
Adapt and stabilize
Back to school
Transition of care
Initial diagnosis
Adapt and stabilize
Back to school
Transition of care
Identifying key gaps
We observed a key gap in the current pediatric healthcare ecosystem; although Physicians encourage chronically-ill teens to take up disease management tasks, very few hospitals can systematically support or monitor the child’s progress toward autonomy. It’s not uncommon to hear about 29-year-olds who live with their parents and heavily depend on them for care management tasks.
Unpacking & synthesizing research findings
We saw four distinct themes emerge, as we started to unpack & synthesize our qualitative design research findings
Disease management at home
Disease management in school
Behaviors and relationships
Motivating autonomy
12 principles to guide your design process
These principles were developed based on our user research and experience prototyping work over the last year. They are intended to guide innovators through special considerations for designing products/services that improve the care management experience for chronically-ill children and their families.
We would love to collaborate with you
Join our community of designers, healthcare practitioners, and experts to reimagine the care management experience for chronically-ill teenagers and their families!
Our Advisory Board
We are fortunate to be supported by an amazing board of advisors & thought-leaders in Pediatric Healthcare domain.
Gourab Saha
Physical Product Designer
Design Strategist
Sohini Guin
User Experience Designer
Design Strategist
Usman Khaliq
HCI Designer & Data Scientist
Design Researcher
Dr. David Rosenthal
Professor of Pediatrics,
School of Medicine,
Stanford University
Dr. Andrew Shin
Associate Medical Director,
Pediatric Intensive Care,
Stanford Children’s Health
Dr. David Schienker
Clinical Associate Professor
School of Medicine
Stanford University
Mariel R
Research Coordinator,
School of Medicine,
Stanford University
David Scheinker
Associate Professor
School of Medicine
Stanford University
David N Rosenthal
Professor (Pediatrics),
School of Medicine
Stanford University
Dr. Andrew Shin
Clinical Professor, Pediatrics (Cardiology),
Executive Medical Director - Innovation &
Clinical Effectiveness
Core Team
Gourab Saha
Industrial & Product Designer
MS(Design Impact) Student
Stanford University
Sohini Guin
User Experience Designer
MS(Design Impact) Student
Design Strategist
Usman Khaliq
HCI Designer & Data Scientist
MS(Design Impact) Student
Design Researcher