BackSense is a wearable adhesive sensor patch that monitors lower back muscle pressure and posture in real-time, delivering gentle vibration alerts and personalized insights through a companion mobile app.
Back strain is one of the most common health complaints among office workers, students, and older adults, yet most people only become aware of poor posture after pain has already developed. BackSense addresses this gap by providing continuous, non-intrusive monitoring that catches strain buildup early and nudges users toward better habits before damage occurs.
Our solution is an adhesive sensor patch worn on the lower back that measures muscle pressure using EMG sensors and tracks spinal angle with an accelerometer and gyroscope. It communicates via Bluetooth Low Energy to a companion mobile app that provides real-time feedback, customizable alerts, weekly reports with trend analysis, and guided stretch recommendations.
Continuous posture tracking with a visual body silhouette that changes color from green to yellow to red based on your current strain level.
Customizable vibration alerts with adjustable delay, intensity settings, quiet hours, and AI-powered suggestions that learn your worst posture hours.
Track your progress over time with daily breakdowns, week-over-week comparisons, and auto-generated insight cards that pinpoint problem patterns.
Personalized stretch recommendations based on your strain data, with built-in timers and difficulty ratings for every exercise.
We conducted contextual inquiries and semi-structured interviews with 6 participants across diverse demographics: office workers, a manual laborer, a gym-goer, an older adult, and a university student. Here are the key findings that shaped our design:
5 out of 6 participants rated their posture as "good" or "okay," but observation during tasks showed frequent slouching within 15-20 minutes. People genuinely do not realize how quickly their posture degrades.
Every participant reported only noticing back strain after pain had already set in, usually hours into poor posture. They wanted earlier intervention but had no way to get it.
Participants were wary of constant buzzing. They wanted customizable alerts that respected their focus time, with the ability to set quiet hours and adjust sensitivity.
Multiple participants said they would be more motivated to improve posture if they could see their progress over time, similar to fitness tracking apps they already use.
Back strain occurs everywhere, not just at desks. Users needed a solution that works while standing, cooking, commuting, and exercising, which is why the wearable patch won over the desk-only cushion.
These storyboards illustrate how real users interact with BackSense across different complexity levels.
Our medium-fidelity prototype was built using Figma for static mockups and design system, with an interactive clickable prototype for the functional demo. The prototype implements all three task flows: viewing posture status (simple), configuring alerts (medium), and reviewing weekly reports with data-driven suggestions (complex).
Static screen designs showing the complete UI for all four app sections: Dashboard, Alerts, Reports, and Guidance.
Open in FigmaClickable prototype with screen-to-screen navigation supporting all three task flows.
Launch PrototypeColor: Dark theme (#060B14) with mint green (#22D3A0) accent. Dark background reduces eye strain for frequent checking throughout the workday. Green, amber, and red follow standard severity conventions.
Typography: DM Sans for clean, modern legibility at small mobile sizes. Heavy weights for headings, regular for body text.
Layout: Standard mobile layout with fixed bottom navigation. Dashboard-first landing since quick status checks were the most common use case from our research.
UI Principles: Visibility (always-on connection indicator, color-coded status), Feedback (animated spine, toast confirmations), Affordance (tappable cards with depth), Consistency (persistent nav, uniform card styles, same color semantics throughout).
Developer & Designer