Tanguy’s Design Portfolio
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Testicular is the most prevalent type of cancer amongst men aged 15-45 years old, with around 6 new cases each day in the UK alone.

Whilst it is thankfully highly curable, one of the main side effects of testicular cancer treatments in infertility.

It is precisely because testicular cancer disproportionnally affects young men that this issue of infertility from treatments is particularly relevant.
In the case of late diagnosis, the rate of infertility as a result of heavy treatments can be as high as 52%.

When caught early, however, this can drop down to only 8% when only surgery and surveillance are required.
This highlights the importance of early diagnostic in minimising the impact of testicular cancer treatments on the fertility of young patients.
To better understand this complex problem space, I arranged interviews with a wide range of stakeholders, from oncologists, psychotherapists, to pharmaceutical researchers.

These conversations highlighted and confirmed the need for better tools to help diagnose testicular cancer as early as possible.
I also analysed online testimonies of testicular cancer survivors, pinpointing when and how they discovered they had cancer, trying to understand what could have been done differently to ensure an earlier diagnosis.
The scientific consensus is that men should self-examinate their testicles once a month for any anomalies, such as lumps, swelling, changes in firmness, or pain under pressure.
However, through my prior research and interviews with my target user group (young adult men), I was able to identify 3 main barriers to regular self-examination:
  1. A general lack of awareness of both the risks of testicular cancer and the medical recommendations surrounding it.
  2. A lack of compliance to the medical recommendations, even when having knowledge of those recommendations.
  3. A low confidence when performing self-examinations, due to the difficulty in telling apart what is normal and what is not. 

Whilst the first barrier is currently being adressed through awareness campaigns, the last two have been completely under-served so far. This is why I decided to tackle both of them with Ono.






          Four initial protoypes for the physical product were designed in 3D. These drew inspiration from existing devices, the main two categories of which being:
  • Medical devices: Their design is subconsciously seen as more trustworthy and more important.
  • Adult sexual-play device: Designed to be used in sensitive areas of the human body (as will Ono be), their forms invoke comfort, wellbeing and safety to the users. 

These prototypes were then 3D printed, fitted with metal electrodes, and given to participants for testing and evaluation. Their feedback was almost unanimous when it came to ease of use and intuitiveness, as well as feelings of safety, comfort and trust.

This chosen form was then redesigned based on their additional feedback and modified to accomodate a more advanced form of tumour detection technology.
The final Product design was then carefully modelled in Fusion 360 and rendered in KeyShot with the appropriate CMF.

The device includes platinum electrodes for sensing, a flexible silicon grip to ensure proper contact with the skin of the electrodes, as well as a back-hand handle and electronics compartment for unobstructed use of the device.
A first interation of the companion mobile app design was made before being evaluated with the help of a psychotherapist for feedback to improve the desired user experience, such as ease of use, comfort and confidence.



From the gathered feedback, a refined version of the User Interface and User Experience was designed, including all anticipated app features (such as manual self-examination walkthroughs in the case of a forgotten or out-of-charge device).
The final Product and UI/UX designs were then evaluated and validated through in-depth interviews and tests with members of the target user group.
Overall very positive feedback was received, highlighting the utility, usability and accessibility of the proposed designs.










Ono

MSc/MA Graduation Solo Project