Pearly
Product &
App

Problem _
Around 70% of Americans suffer from dental hygiene related issues and don't even know it. Only 55% of Americans make the recommended annual dental visit, a majority of which make over $120,000 a year. Regular dental care shouldn’t be cost-prohibitive.

Background _
Pearly is a speculative project I made to explore a consumer-focused medical experience that incorporates both hardware and digital.

Solution _
The goal of Pearly is to make dental care more accessible and affordable for everyone. We aren't seeking to replace dentists. We’re simply a resource that makes tracking and preventing dental hygiene issues a little easier through digestible visualizations, tips and advice, and regular monitoring.

Made At _
Home - Personal Project

Roles _
UI / UX Design . 3D Design . Motion, Branding, Packaging 

Genre _
Product Design . Interaction Design

Year _
2017 - 2018

Getting Started _

After downloading the Pearly app, you will be taken through a secure medical questionnaire similar to those provided at a dentist’s office. With this information, Pearly will be able to draw better conclusions and make more specific recommendations for your oral hygiene care.

Connecting The Pearly Device _

The Pearly device is responsible for your dental analysis. It utilizes photo resistors and LEDs for color detection (yellowness, plaque, and redness of the gums), and a pressure sensitive bite strip to get a reading on cavities. Connecting the device to the app is easy. Just press the button on the side of the device, and select the Pearly device in your bluetooth settings. Then open the app, and tap to connect your device. You should see the light on the device sync with the light in the app when they are connected.

First Diagnostic _

After the device is paired, you will be instructed to take your first diagnostic. Diagnostics are taken every two weeks to provide an update on your dental hygiene. Pearly analyzes four key areas: gums, plaque, cavities, and yellowness. The diagnostic takes around one minute to complete, and will serve as a baseline for all future diagnostics and cleaning routines. While the testing is happening, users will be able to look at the progress bar in the app, and enjoy a fun looping animation of teeth getting scanned. 

Results _

Following the first diagnostic, you will receive a rank up to 5 stars, depending on the status of your dental hygiene. The rank is an average of the four key areas, and will provide a general metric to understand your current state of hygiene, and some motivation to work towards higher ranks.

Pearly Points _

Pearly Points are accumulated during each diagnostic to determine a rank. They are labeled with the following titles: outshined, improved, maintained, and regressed.

Results Details _

Based on results of the diagnostic, you’ll receive analysis and tips on how to prevent potential problems, or prompts to see your dentist for more serious issues. All diagnostic results are compared to a national average in order to return accurate, relevant results.

Pearly Cleaning _

Based off the results of the most recent diagnostic test, you will receive a recommended cleaning routine to help maintain and improve your dental hygiene. The routine adjusts to your most recent diagnostic.

Pearly Dashboard _
The Pearly dashboard is a feed where you can see the results of your most recent diagnostic, reminders to make dentist appointments, your current rank, and related news and updates.

Process 01 _ Do People Need This? _

Before diving into the project, I needed to answer a few key questions. One of the most important ones being - do people need this? I started with asking family and friends of various ages, genders, and ethnicities about their dental hygiene. I also conducted research with people waiting for their trains in Penn Station and Grand Central Station. Although the questions were personal, 50 people were happy to help!

Process 02 _ Analyzing and Comparing my findings _

To test the accuracy of my results, I compared them to national average statistics from the Dental Health Foundation. I found that my numbers were relatively close to the national averages, proving a huge issue with dental hygiene in America.

Process 03 _ UX Flows

Once the need was proven, I started creating high level and detail UX flows for the Pearly experience. I broke each core moment of the product into a bucket as a starting point. From the bucketed moments, I began figuring out key screens. Lastly from the key screens, I was able to begin designing wireframes to figure out product features, and UI layout.