WHO
Doug and Lisa Powell have been the principals of Schwartz Powell Design in Minneapolis since 1989. While the husband/wife team have overcome many professional milestones over the years, their biggest challenge came in September 2002, when their 7-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes.

Doug recalls, “Suddenly we were thrust into a new world—filled with strange terminology and stern warnings—requiring an immediate and critical education process. There was a huge amount of critical information we needed to learn and understand in a short time period. It was confusing, technical, and completely un-kid-friendly.

“At the same time we were trying our best to be positive and reassure our daughter that this new reality was something we could easily manage and deal with. Like most families, we were totally overwhelmed. We searched everywhere for information that would help us understand the disease and tools that would help us live with it. We especially wanted materials we could share with our daughter—so that she could remain the independent child that she had always been. But most everything we found was related to Type 2 diabetes or had a clinical perspective that was cold or intimidating. It focused on the medical aspects of the disease and not the practical and emotional aspects. There was a huge gap.” Each year more than 14,000 American children are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

WHAT
So Doug and Lisa put their design skills to work and created materials for their family to use: flashcards, cheat sheets, forms, and charts. “These tools immediately helped build confidence in our daughter and those who help care for her. And they simplified the many calculations that are a constant part of our daily life,” Lisa explains.

As a result of their personal success with the materials, Doug and Lisa created Type 1 Tools to make them available to all families who are going through similar challenges. Doug notes, “We’ve taken our experience and designed a collection of useful tools that communicate serious information with a warm, upbeat, and totally kid-friendly, can-do attitude. Our goal is to help other families and eventually help eliminate this disease that affects so many lives. We’re donating some of the proceeds to diabetes-related organizations, so that someday there won’t be a need for products like ours.”

WHEN
“The development of the product line came in an intense rush of creativity,” he says. “After about six months of rebuilding our family life around this new reality, Lisa and I finally had a moment to collect our thoughts and reflect on the experience. As designers, we were consumed with ideas for how the diagnosis and daily experience of diabetes could be handled in a more positive, empowering, and effective way. The original product concepts were designed in about two weeks and they took about six months to refine and produce.”

Lisa notes, “We’ve always operated our design business on a collaborative model and here we leaned heavily on our resources in the design community for web development, photography, copywriting, and print production. IdeaPark was our partner on the website. Given the nature of the business—promoting a product line to the healthcare market—we also had to look outside the design community for help. We’ve worked with diabetes educators, endocrinologists, and dieticians to develop the content for the products, and we’ve worked with experts in entrepreneurship and business growth to develop the business model.”

Initially the designers were focused exclusively on families living with Type 1 diabetes, but they soon discovered that their products were equally applicable to people living with Type 2 (adult onset) diabetes, and they’ve begun to market to that audience. “As we’ve delved deeper into the healthcare industry we’ve realized that there is a huge need for materials like Type 1 Tools in other chronic disease areas,” Doug says.

WHERE
In addition to the Type 1 website, the products are available at the American Association of Diabetes Educators bookstore and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) website and catalog. “ADA is the nation’s largest nonprofit diabetes organization, and this relationship has provided a huge boost in credibility and visibility for our products,” Lisa notes. “Additionally, the American Dietetic Association has awarded Type 1 Tools with its Creative Nutrition Education Award.”

The response has been overwhelming and energizing. Families and healthcare providers are thrilled to have simplified, visually stimulating tools to help manage the complicated daily routine. The diabetes business community has also been very receptive to the products and was eager to forge partnerships in this area. “We have a large network of families living with diabetes and healthcare providers working in the field whom we’ve utilized for feedback and support. Our local chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and ChildrenWithDiabetes.com, an online community, have been very supportive,” Doug explains.

WHY
“One thing we’ve discovered as we’ve become entrenched in the healthcare industry is that the problem of poorly designed, or nondesigned, educational materials is not exclusive to diabetes,” Lisa says. “In fact, we see an epidemic in this area that spreads across all areas of healthcare. With more and more of the burden of caring for chronic conditions being placed on patients and their families, there is an enormous need for well-designed materials, and we see the approach we’ve taken with Type 1 Tools being applicable in many of these areas.”
www.type1tools.com