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AI Voice Assistant App for Longitudinal Cognitive Monitoring and Timely Diagnosis of Cognitive Decline

Designed at: Harvard Business School & Harvard Medical School, 2023.
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Role: Design Strategy, UX Research, UI/UX Design.
 
Team of 4 comprising a neurosurgeon, a general physician and service designer.

Impact: MindUp has been validated with 5 neurologists. 

 

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Background
Cognitive assessments are brief pen-and-paper tests conducted in clinics to evaluate patients across various cognitive factors. We sought to understand why so many cases were being overlooked or missed during these evaluations.
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User Research
We spoke to 14 experts at Harvard Medical School including neurologists, neurosurgeons, insurance providers and PCP's to understand the current timelines and workflow for conducting cognitive assessments. We also spoke to 5 elderly adults and 3 caregivers of adults with cognitive decline to understand their experience with cognitive assessments.
 
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Insights
Caregiver Proximity Impacts Awareness.
Caregivers living apart noticed cognitive decline more sharply than those living with elderly patients, who often missed gradual changes over time.

External factors impact test results.
Language barriers, education level, anxiety (most adults have not taken a test in years), and medications influence scores.

Voice is preferred over text.
Elderly users prefer a voice-based app over a text-based one due to challenges with vision and readability.

Need for continuous monitoring.
Clinic-based tests capture only a snapshot. Patients might be at their cognitive peak or trough, leading to inaccurate diagnosis.
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Competition Benchmarking
Current cognitive decline assessment products are used in-clinic and not at home, they are not tailored to be used longitudinally. Brain training apps do not measure cognition.
 
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Design Goal
Our goal is to empower patients, caregivers and healthcare providers through a user-friendly platform that continuously tracks cognitive health and provides personalized assessments and actionable recommendations to improve cognition for elderly patients.
Ideation

Wearable devicePassive monitoring of speech & movement
Alexa-integrated solutionConversational assessments
Voice-based AI assistant appConversational assessments using gold-standard cognitive assessments over time

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Why We Chose a Voice Assistant App
Ease of use and familiarity
Accessibility
Integration into Daily Routines
Clear Reimbursement Pathway (from an insurance perspective)
Information Architecture
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Wireframing
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Key Differentiators
Market Sizing
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Go To Market
Let's connect!
Feel free to reach out for collaborations 
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© 2025 Deepika Gopalakrishnan / All Rights Reserved
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