William van der Bijl / Interaction Design Portfolio

William van der Bijl

Case Studies

Archive

About

William van der Bijl

Case Studies

Archive

About

William van der Bijl

Case Studies

Archive

About

Managing type 1 diabetes requires hours of time, attention and patience, each and everyday.

Even though management has never been easier, the technology helping me has become the largest source of distraction in my daily life.

So I created Weave, a series of prototypes that calmly & quietly help me keep an eye on my blood sugar through ambience.

Weave / Personal project / 3 weeks / Summer 2026

Notifications & anxieties....... all the way down

Technology has made glucose data more available than ever. I have my insulin pump, an app on my iPhone & Apple Watch.

They're hard coded to warn me if my glucose goes too high or low, which is very normal throughout the day, especially after eating. So I feel bombarded with irelevent notifications.

It's become a distraction, effecting all parts of my life; work, socailisng, resting, sleeping, excercising… each hour of the day, everyday.

Notifications & anxieties....... all the way down

Technology has made glucose data more available than ever. I have my insulin pump, an app on my iPhone & Apple Watch.

They're hard coded to warn me if my glucose goes too high or low, which is very normal throughout the day, especially after eating. So I feel bombarded with irelevent notifications.

It's become a distraction, effecting all parts of my life; work, socailisng, resting, sleeping, excercising… each hour of the day, everyday.

Wouldn't it be nice to be notified when you actually need to check and act on your glucose?

…when you’re glucose has been too high for too long after a meal, or even when it goes a little low too soon after a large bowl of pasta?

Contextualising glucose values

Tell Weave when you have a small, medium or large amount of carbs, no need to say if you had 68 grams or 75 grams.

With this info, Weave suggests if your glucose is too high or low relative to what you ate & when. Helping let you know if you should consider giving more insulin or eating carbs.

Contextualising glucose values

Tell Weave when you have a small, medium or large amount of carbs, no need to say if you had 68 grams or 75 grams.

With this info, Weave suggests if your glucose is too high or low relative to what you ate & when. Helping let you know if you should consider giving more insulin or eating carbs.

Ambience when you're home

Connected to smart lamps, Weave uses light to calmly let you know when you might need to give your diabetes attention - when your glucose is too high or too low.

Helping you feel less tied to manually checking your glucose on your smartphone or insulin pump throughout the day.

Ambience when you're home

Connected to smart lamps, Weave uses light to calmly let you know when you might need to give your diabetes attention - when your glucose is too high or too low.

Helping you feel less tied to manually checking your glucose on your smartphone or insulin pump throughout the day.

Back to normal

In my own experience with diabetes, I noticed after eating a meal, I constantly checked my glucose to see if/when it had come back down to a normal value. Taking up space in the back of my mind.

Based on this, Weave gives a helping hand, letting you know when your glucose is back too normal after eating or after a period of low blood glucose. And if it stays too high for too long after eating, it will let you know too.

Back to normal

In my own experience with diabetes, I noticed after eating a meal, I constantly checked my glucose to see if/when it had come back down to a normal value. Taking up space in the back of my mind.