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Dip Tracker Empowers Women to Take Control of Anemia

02.03.22 | By
Dip Tracker Empowers Women to Take Control of Anemia

When is the last time you checked your iron levels? According to the World Health Organization, iron deficiency is a legitimate global nutritional disorder, one that might affect as many as 80 percent of people in the world, resulting in 30% of people being affected by prolonged iron deficiency in the form of anemia. Women are often affected by this condition that can fly under the radar. British industrial designer Hans Ramzan and UX designer Mily Sin want to help make this often invisible condition more visible to all in the form of Dip, a health monitoring wearable engineered to non-invasively measure hemoglobin levels in realtime.

UX designer Mily Sin on left and industrial designer Hans Ramzan on the right discussing design over a table covered in prototype sketches, wristband samples, and tablet

UX designer Mily Sin and industrial designer Hans Ramzan imagined Dip in forms, exploring a multitude of shades of color to appeal to a wide variety of users from a multitude of backgrounds.

Woman's hands holding Dip silicone wristband on left and sensor unit on the right.

Dip is designed for simplicity, with only three functions designed into the wristband+sensor device – setup, tracking, and analyzing.

Animation of Dip sensor dropping into silicone wristband.

The Dip sensor sits snugly within a soft silicone band. Once secured, the Dip connects wirelessly to its own smartphone app via Bluetooth, and there forth tracks data in real-time, measuring whether the user’s diet requires additional supplements or any lifestyle changes.

Two iPhones with Dip iOS app displayed; screen on left showing realtime blood health measurements, screen on right displaying user's daily mood journal.

Additionally the app offers suggestions for improving any concerning trends in hemoglobin levels. In sum, the Dip’s functions aren’t meant to completely eliminate visit to the doctors, but help gain a larger picture of the day-to-day scope of blood health, while also reducing the need for unnecessary blood testing.

“We were shocked after discovering the huge impact anemia has on women across the world. This invisible condition often goes undetected and can lead to women struggling with not only their bodies, but also their emotional wellbeing,” says Hans Ramzan. “With an overly saturated technology market geared towards men, we wanted to create a female centric solution for a primarily female issue. Our vision is to make technology less intimidating by allowing Dip to integrate seamlessly into women’s lifestyles. Using Dip shouldn’t feel like a product, but a natural extension of you.”

Underside of Dip oximeter sensor set in silicone wristband with red and green lights illuminated.

Dip wristband with LED illuminated analog-style clock display with arms set at 2:25.

The Dip also functions as a simple digital watch with analog clock styling.

Detail of Dip adjustable silicone wristband.

Dip is currently available as online preview as an interactive prototype here.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.