Tyler: It’s clear that the pill alone is not enough. It’s something people really identify with. One of the most common reasons people stop taking the pill is actually that it was too hard for them to remember, not that they didn’t want to be taking the medication. Even when people are not missing many pills, they’re often spending a lot of mental energy trying to stay on schedule. In our research, we learned that 42% of women on the pill take at least one pregnancy test a year, and many take more than that. It’s definitely a problem people know about it and relate too. Tyler: And it’s not just a compliance problem right? The mental and emotional burden of sticking to a routine is heavy.Īmanda: We conducted research about women’s experience taking the pill, and the top ranking pain points were around the anxiety of remembering to take the pill and unintended side effects of occasionally missing it. And the kicker is that this is almost all due to user error. There are almost one million unplanned pregnancies in the US each year *among people on the pill*…one in 10 women. These are all pain points we didn’t think people on the pill should have to deal with anymore. Missed pills obviously lead to unplanned pregnancies but they also lead to so many negative symptoms and side effects as a result of essentially going on a hormone roller coaster…heavier bleeding, acne, mood swings. Yet the pill still remains the most common form of contraception – in large part because of how relatively affordable and accessible it is compared to other options. It’s difficult to think of another product where a 10% failure rate would be acceptable and still be so popular. When you’ve missed even one, the effectiveness of the pill goes down because there’s a lapse in therapy in the drug. Depending on the requirements of your prescription, you may be trying to consistently hit a window of just a few hours…very challenging and stressful to do consistently with a busy schedule. This is all because there has not been a properly supportive system for tracking and sending reminders to actually help people take the pill on the schedule they want to. In perfect use, the pill is 99.9% effective, but clinical studies indicate that up to 80% of women on the pill miss at least one pill per month. When you do the math, that means there are almost one million unplanned pregnancies in the US each year *among people on the pill*…one in 10 women. There are ten million women in the US who are taking birth control each year, but in typical use the pill is only 91% effective. It’s a surprisingly common issue that women identify with but was mostly overlooked until just recently by the larger healthcare community. The largest unsolved pain point in birth control management is the missed pill problem. Can you walk us through some of the stats?Īmanda: Absolutely. When I first heard about what you were working on, I was shocked to learn how ineffective taking birth control pills is. Tyler: First off, congrats on the launch. Their story is a case study in opinionated interface design that’s resulted in an elegant hardware and software product coming from a place of empathy and advocacy for their customers. The Bolt team had the pleasure of collaborating with Emme on product development, and I wanted to share their design journey via a conversation I had recently with the CEO, Amanda French. The companion app sends custom reminders-only when needed- and lets women record their cycle and mood along the way. The Smart Case automatically logs pills, so women miss fewer and feel better. It’s a lovely little portable case for birth control pills that works seamlessly with their tracking and reminder app. They recently launched their first product: the Emme Smart Case. ![]() Emme is a healthcare technology company building premium healthcare tools for women.
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