A Study on the Design Case of Type 2 Diabetes Application in Korea: Applications that people in their 20s and 30s prefer

According to statistics from the Korea Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of diabetes patients in their 30s stood at 121,568 as of 2020, up 25.5% from four years ago. In particular, the prevalence of young diabetes patients in their 20s increased by 47% from 23,798 in 2016 to 35,005 in 2020. They are at high risk of complications due to their long disease life, so the importance of the diabetes management app is drawing attention for steady management and continuous information, but most apps are being developed focused on middle-aged people. There is inevitably a difference between the living environment of middle-aged people and those in their 20s and 30s, but due to the characteristics of the younger generation, which has a high proportion of single-person households, it is difficult to manage diabetes on their own. For young diabetics and diabetes patients in their 40s or older, there will be differences in the areas that are directly or indirectly affected by the living environment and social environment, so the preferred design will change and the physical situation will be affected, which will affect the user interface. Looking at the two objects together and developing diabetes applications will inevitably cause inconvenience to users. Recognize the gap between the two targets and see the need for applications used by young diabetes patients who have been pushed out of development targets, not applications for existing middle-aged people. Therefore, the study conducted a basic study for developing applications suitable for young diabetes patients by comparing applications preferred by people in their 20s and 30s with the design characteristics of diabetes management apps in order to develop applications that can help young diabetics manage diabetes on their own. The paper compared and analyzed the most frequently used and existing diabetes applications in their 20s and 30s. Currently, for diabetes applications, there is a lack of fun factors that can increase user access, leading to the need to develop fun factors that can help young diabetics manage continuously.