Participatory design to address stigma with Adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes

Adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes are required to use medical devices to test their blood glucose levels regularly. However, using these devices can be stigmatising in various everyday situations. This paper describes a participatory design workshop that explored six strategies for addressing product-related stigma with five young people with type 1 diabetes and five designers. The strategies were to strengthen the product's medical identity, to disguise the product as an accepted non-medical item, to make the device invisible or less confronting, to provide choice and opportunities for personalisation, to strengthen the product's brand identity, and to increase the social power of the device. The workshop resulted in five rapid prototypes for blood glucose monitoring technology that address stigma using a variety of strategies and a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. This study elucidates young people's stigma-related userrequirements of blood glucose monitoring technologies.