Nerea Asua Lowe

The part of the design process I love most is working with users to develop a deep understanding of their issues and developing empathy with the problems of their daily lives. Wherever possible I try to work visually to aid communication and am never afraid to iterate my designs to ensure the best possible outcomes.



I made sure to execute this design thinking in my final year project where I tackled health inequalities in the UK and their effects on cardiovascular disease. I made sure to constantly engage with my users throughout the design process and discovered optimism bias is the main reason why people are not concerned with their heart health. The solution is the smart heart, a non-stigmatising domestic product that anyone can easily use to understand whether they are at risk of future cardiovascular disease. The product solution utilises Photoplethysmography technology, a non-invasive and low-cost optical technique that is used to detect blood volume changes in the microvascular bed of tissue which can detect early signs of cardiovascular disease. During the research, it became evident that the most important aspect for the users was the creation of a non-clinical, non-intimidating domestic type device that they would feel comfortable and familiar using. The product is accompanied by a smartphone application, to allow users to understand their current heart health and advise them on any remedial action to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.



In the next part of my career, I hope to work with like-minded organisations that have the ambition to design products and services to improve the lives of as many people as possible.