Cardiex

Role

UI/UX Design

Platform

Mobile App, Smartwatch App

Year

2019–2020

Team

Solo designer, 1 PM

Tools

Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign

Overview

Cardiex develops biomarkers and digital tools for cardiovascular health. New scanning technology in smartwatches could measure vascular biomarkers like arterial vibrancy, and Cardiex wanted a watch app and phone app to make those readings useful to everyday people.

As the only designer, working with a PM, I created the concept: watch UX and UI explorations, a main flow and prototype, notifications, and the paired phone app for both healthy and at-risk users.

01The challenge

Making a biomarker readable

The data behind vascular health is complex. The challenge was turning it into something a person could understand at a glance on a watch, and act on in the phone app.

02Exploration

Five ways to show one score

I explored five watch face concepts for presenting the score and its contributing measurements: polygon, rings, cluster, attribute, and a friendly character.

Five watch face concepts: polygon, rings, cluster, attribute, and character

03The score

Naming the number

The concept proposed a single, ownable name for the overall reading, the Arty Score, derived from “heart” and easy to remember.

04Main flow

From tap to result

The main flow maps a reading on the watch, from tap to start through scanning and the result, and was built into a clickable prototype.

Watch main flow from tap to start through results

05Styling

Refining the watch face

Styling rounds compared ring layouts with five, four, and three pieces, balancing how much detail fits on a small round screen.

Watch UI styling with 5, 4, and 3 piece rings

06Smartwatch

Glanceable on the wrist

On the watch, the same biomarkers become quick-read scores and ranges sized for a small round screen.

07Watch screens

Coaching and sharing

Individual screens compare each score to last week, offer coaching tips, and invite users to share a great score.

08Tags & notifications

Context for every reading

Users can tag a measurement with what they were doing, and notifications nudge them to build a baseline or take a moment to breathe.

Adding measurement tags and watch notifications

09Mobile app

Readings at a glance

The companion app leads with blood pressure and central BP, then breaks out heart rate, arterial vibrancy, heart stress, heart age, and exercise capacity. The whole screen shifts color when a reading moves from normal to hypertension.

10Insights

From numbers to next steps

Beyond the dashboard, users get a full blood pressure report with trends, a streak that encourages daily measurements, and short reads on topics like stress and sleep.

11Two users

Designing for healthy and at-risk users

The phone app was designed around two scenarios, a healthy user and an unhealthy one, so the same screens could celebrate good readings and clearly flag concerning ones.

Phone app for a healthy user and an unhealthy user

12Outcome

Concept

This was concept work: the initial smartwatch app and companion app designs, created ahead of development.