Eli Lilly · 2017–2021 · Research, Product Strategy, Clinical Integration, App Design

Scout: Exercise & Insulin App

Integrating clinical guidelines into lightweight, experiential insulin guidance

Scout app interface showing activity planning and insulin guidance
The Challenge

People with diabetes need insulin guidance for exercise, but existing solutions were either too complex or clinically unsound. Lilly needed to understand how to translate evidence-based clinical guidelines into an app experience that people would actually use—making expert recommendations accessible without adding burden to an already demanding condition.

Guiding Principles

Delivery of insulin guidance needs to be lightweight and experiential to be actually used and desirable.

  • ⭐ We're not in the business of getting people to exercise.
  • ⭐ Diabetes is already a lot of work. It's unreasonable to ask for more.
  • ⭐ Reports, scheduling, data viz, trends are table stakes and should provide basic utility.
The Approach

We developed a product vision and system architecture that integrated clinical guidelines into an experiential app flow—helping users plan activities, get personalized insights, and manage insulin around exercise without adding complexity.

Scout design principles and framework
Design principles grounded in empathy and user reality
Scout system architecture
System design: Translating clinical guidelines and exercise data into personalized recommendations
The Solution

Scout integrates clinical expertise into a lightweight app experience that helps people manage insulin around exercise—planning activities, getting personalized insights, and recording sessions with guidance that feels effortless rather than burdensome.

Scout in context showing real-world usage
Guidance that fits into real life, not the other way around
Impact & Deliverables

Clinical Integration

Translated evidence-based guidelines into actionable app experience

Product Vision

Delivered clear direction for building lightweight, user-centered insulin guidance

Design Principles

Established core principles grounded in empathy and user reality

My Role

I led research and product strategy to understand how people with diabetes manage exercise and insulin, working closely with Lilly's clinical and product teams. By establishing clear design principles rooted in user empathy—recognizing that diabetes is already demanding work—we created a vision for integrating clinical expertise into an app that felt lightweight and desirable rather than burdensome. The resulting system architecture and product vision gave Lilly a clear path to building evidence-based tools that people would actually use.

Research Product Strategy Clinical Integration Design Principles App Design

The Team: Sara Krugman (Research & Design Lead)