MEX Notes: Jawbone Announces Up, A Wristband To Track Health – Co.Design

Jawbone Announces Up, A Wristband To Track Health – Co.Design – Jawbone's new mobile health product combines the required attention to detail at the accessory level with the overall service vision needed to make a meaningful difference. As participants in MEX Pathway #5 explored at the December 2010 MEX, designing products for wellness or healthcare is an expansive activity, with multiple target users, touchpoints and regulatory requirements for each individual product. Jawbone's Up manifests as a wearable wrist-band, but the service extends into a cloud architecture and local sensor connectivity with a mobile phone. The result is a product designed to guide users towards a healthier lifestyle by making personalised suggestions based on real monitoring of their behaviour.
Crucially, Jawbone's expertise in accessory design (it is best known for being about the only company to make a 'desireable' Bluetooth headset) has enabled it to create a physical product users will actually want to wear. This is in stark contrast to many mobile health accessories which seem to highlight the users' ailment or mark them out as a fitness fanatic.

MEX Pathway #5 was archived for the last few months, but will be re-opened in the coming weeks as we build towards May 2011 MEX.

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