Camino: Derisking Exploration for Young Adults with T1D

Summary

Team

Shreya Mathur
Mariana Andrade
Arundhuti Bhattacharya

Partner

Diabetes en Movimiento (DeM)

My Contribution

Research, framework synthesis, visual design

Duration

14 weeks, 2025–2026

Course

Advanced Behavioral Design Workshop, Institute of Design

Deliverable

AI-integrated behavioral tool + dashboard

Context

A Condition That Doesn't Pause for Life

Type 1 Diabetes requires continuous, active management — blood glucose monitoring, insulin dosing, diet adjustments — every hour of every day. For young adults in their late teens and twenties, this management often collides head-on with the demands of life: social events, travel, spontaneous decisions, peer pressure, and the desire to simply belong.

Diabetes en Movimiento (DeM) is a healthcare organization in Latin America that provides mentorship and support to young T1D patients. They came to our team with a challenge: existing tools and systems weren't meeting their users where they actually were.

The context matters: in Latin American communities, social and collective care is the cultural norm. Management isn't just a personal choice — it happens within families, friend groups, and communities. Any solution would need to honor that reality.

160,000 young adults live with T1D in South and Central America. Source: Global type 1 diabetes prevalence, incidence, and mortality estimates 2025.

Problem

Not Neglect — a Tradeoffs Problem

Driven by social acceptance, peer pressure, and independence, young adults deprioritize management during spontaneous moments. But it's not neglect — it's a tradeoffs problem. They're choosing between diabetes care and the life they want to live.

And not everyone starts from the same place. Some have knowledge but lack confidence. Others feel overwhelmed. Some avoid thinking about T1D entirely. Recognizing these differences is the key to effective support.

Behavioral Challenge

How do we help young adults achieve safe exploration — pursuing life fully while managing T1D responsibly — in ways that are attainable and actionable for their specific context?

Research

Research Insights That Shaped Our Way

We combined secondary and primary research to understand the lived experience of young adults with T1D:

• 15 literature review sessions
• 15 digital ethnography sessions
• 5 interviews with transcript analysis
• 5 media scans and company reports
• 2 trend reports and conference proceedings
• 2 data and research analyses

Research insights

Process & Framework

8 Key Behavioral Dimensions

Eight behavioral dimensions emerged from our research — four individual and four social. Each dimension is evaluated on a spectrum from high-risk to low-risk behaviors.

Behavioral spider map — each user mapped across the 8 dimensions

7 User Archetypes

Users are mapped across the 8 dimensions, revealing behavioral patterns — illustrated through distinct archetypes, each driven by a different emotional state.

Each archetype maps to specific behavioral biases and intervention strategies — e.g., Behavior Modeling, Loss Aversion, Cognitive Fatigue, Status Quo Bias.

Solution

Introducing Camino

An AI-integrated tool that determines what each individual needs for safe exploration, based on their behavioral spider map and archetype — enabling DeM to provide user-specific strategies tailored to their context. Camino works across two surfaces: a personal report for users, and a clinical dashboard for DeM counselors.

How It Works

1. Fill Questionnaire

2. Visualize Spider Map

3. Reveal Archetype

4. Get Personalized Strategies

Martina's Journey — The Weaving Chameleon

Martina defines herself through social comparison and fears T1D makes her "different." Her behavioral archetype — The Weaving Chameleon — is happiness-driven and engages in validation-seeking behaviors, anchoring her management to what works for others rather than what works for her own biology.

Her personalized strategies focus on Behavioral Modeling and Relative Sense of Self: reframing management as compatible with belonging, not opposed to it.

Martina's spider map and her personalized Camino report

5 Strategies for the User-Facing Report

1. Personal Baseline Snapshot

   Trend overview

2. Action Lab

   Method exposure

3. Progress Tracking

   With embedded identity

4. Learning Lab

   Testimonials & recommendations

5. Reframing Current Path

   Rewarding good behavior

DeM's clinical dashboard

Try the Prototype

• Figma Make prototype

Testing

Evaluating the Framework

Testing is essential to evaluate Camino's framework and effectiveness. Three questions guide the next round of validation:

• Do the 8 dimensions feel right to users? Are they comprehensive and resonant with lived experience?
• Do users find their archetypes true to themselves? Does the mapping feel accurate and non-reductive?
• How long does it realistically take to move from high to low-risk across all dimensions?

Reflection

Helping Users Carve Their Own Camino

Limiting exploration is not the answer — it catalyses a series of unintended consequences that fail to address the psychosocial components of T1D management. Our solution helps users carve their own Camino.