LifeLine
A first aid app for people who have never been trained, designed to stay clear in the minutes when it matters.
When I was four, I choked on a piece of beef at lunch. Everyone panicked, and no one knew what to do.
It happened on a field trip with friends and family. I managed to swallow it in the end, but I avoided beef for years afterwards. The first minutes after an accident are critical, and that day nobody at the table could use them.
That experience is why I wanted to make first aid knowledge easier to reach. I believe it should be accessible to everyone, everywhere, because emergencies can happen anywhere and at any time.
It was not only my family. Most people have never been trained.
How might a phone give an untrained person guidance clear enough to act on in the first minutes of an emergency?
I asked 26 people what they can already do and what they would need.
A Google Forms survey on first aid education in my community. 46.2% of respondents were aged 35 to 40, a group known for being proactive about their well-being and carrying higher responsibilities.
People agree first aid matters but know little beyond basic wound care. Only one respondent had formal training. What stops them is split almost evenly: information is hard to find, instructions are unclear, and resources are limited (23.1% each), then unreliable information (19.2%) and no internet when needed (11.5%).
Then I studied four health apps and their reviews for what to borrow.
Apple Health
Health data kept in one place, and health updates that keep users informed.
It only works well on iPhone. Device compatibility went on my list.
Flo
Easy data input and informative articles.
The amount of information can overwhelm, so mine had to be more concise.
First Aid, IFRC
Clear emergency guides, and linking first aid to nearby facilities.
A reviewer could not tell titles from instructions because the text all looked the same. Type sizes need to differ.
Aura: Seizure First Aid
A countdown timer, an alert button and a list of emergency contacts.
It covers seizures only. LifeLine had to cover many kinds of emergency.
Each finding became a feature.
Four tabs, each one tap from launch.
The app opens on its logo, then a home with Discover, Insights, Call and Profile arranged left to right. One safeguard sits in the flow: if an emergency contact has not responded after three notifications, the app directs the user to a call button for nearby emergency services.
Red, because it reads as urgent everywhere.
Three things changed between the draft and the final.
A countdown was added
The "golden time" countdown now sits above each procedure, because the decisions on that screen are time-sensitive. Left: before. Right: after.
Tab labels were removed
The names under the four icons came off to keep the bar simple and clear.
The logo was redrawn
The first mark was a red cross formed by two hands, with three lines for check, call and care. It became a heart with a pulse line so the symbol reads as the name.
The final app, screen by screen.
