Last year, the DiabetesMine Design Challenge was just getting off the ground but we had some amazing contributions! The winner of the Grand Prize was Ethan Mullis, a 25-year-old graphic and UI designer at Gnoso Inc. who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in eighth grade. His submission was Log for Life, “an online logbook for glucose, medication, carb intake, doctor’s instructions and more, that will interface with any cell phone via instant messaging (IM) and in particular with the new iPhone.”
Check out his submission video:
Well, more than a year has passed and Ethan as (finally) announced the official out-of-beta launch of Log for Life. Woohoo!
We caught up with Ethan this week to find out a little bit more about Log for Life and how winning this contest effected his project:
“Winning the Diabetes Mine Design Challenge was a big deal for Log for Life, not only because it confirmed that a well designed diabetes logging tool was a good idea, but … by getting our idea in front of so many passionate people with so many different perspectives, we were able to receive lots of feedback and see where we were doing well and where we needed to improve,” Ethan says. “This type of direct feedback is a product developer’s dream, and it was encouraging to see so many people respond to our product.”
One of the unique aspects of Log for Life, Ethan tells us, is that it doesn’t require any glucose meter software. No cable cords whatsoever are required! It still records all the basic elements you’d expect, like glucose levels, carbohydrate intake, medication intake, time spent exercising, etc.
Ethan explains that programs connecting your glucose meter to PC with cables “seems like a really good idea on the surface … but you have to own a sync cable and download extra software. Then there can be software, hardware or sync issues and this is all even more complicated if you have more than one glucometer. We’ve tried to just make logging so simple and fast that there is no need for glucometer syncing at all.”
How does Log for Life measure up to the other online logging and mobile applications? The truth is I’ve been insanely busy and haven’t had a chance to test out the program myself, so I’ll be interested in hearing all of your feedback. What I can tell you is that Ethan and his team have focused on creating a tools that is as simple and easy to use as possible. Simple is good — especially for those of us who find logging to be the bane of our diabetic existence. The website claims you’ll be able to log your blood sugar in under 10 seconds!
There are also some limited social capabilities to connect with other users, Ethan explains, although he says that he felt our burgeoning online diabetes community is already doing an amazing job at helping people connect and form support groups.
If you’re interested in giving Log for Life a try, a 30-day trial is free, and after that, it’s $9 a month, which is comparable to the other online logging websites. The iPhone application comes free with the subscription. Maybe your excuse to finally get an iPhone, if you’re not a user yet. (Yes, I admit, I’m a devotee).
To be perfectly frank, I’m not convinced that data logging itself is the Holy Grail of diabetes tools, but for those PWDs who use this functionality and like it, we certainly appreciate any help we can get making it easier, more powerful, and above all, more mobile! Thanks, Ethan, for making this your personal and professional mission.
We’ve been using it for about a year now and we will continue now that its a paid service. Its been great for logging my Type-1 son’s numbers. Its easy enough that he (age 11) was able to do it without a problem. Grandparents can login to check numbers on their computer to see how he’s been doing, and we are now using our iphones to do entries. My only wish (other than for it to continue being free!) was that it would support something like the iPod Touch so that my son could log his numbers when he’s away from an internet connection and then it would be posted once he’s connected. In my communications with them, it sounds like this is on the plate for future functionality. Otherwise very pleased, graphing and reporting functionality are very useful as is exporting (for backup or pushing to spreadsheet apps, etc).
This is a fascinating concept! I just purchased an iPhone and am astounded at how useful it is. I balance my checkbook, find recipes for dinner, manage my calendar and locate natural cures for common ailments – and to think that an app could help diabetics to manage their daily nutrition is brilliant.
Good idea. I think the spread of mobile devices makes this tool especially useful, as it will increase accuracy and improve compliance when numbers are entered in real time.
Looks like a great product. I’ll definately have a look at it and see what it’s like.
“To be perfectly frank, I’m not convinced that data logging itself is the Holy Grail of diabetes tools”
How do you expect to see blood glucose patterns in context without logging data that affects it?
George.
$108/year? I like this website and iPhone app, and I want these guys to succeed, but I’ve got an Iphone app that cost $3 once and I do all my tracking on that just fine. I’d love an integrated website that went with my data entry device, but is it worth $100/year?
Todd-
You might want to try our iPhone app- Glucose Buddy. It’s free to download on App Store and we give you Web integration for free, too.
As a PWD, I think it’s really hard to justify paying 9 dollars a month for this sort of service if it’s just manual entry.
Let’s face it, manual logging ain’t fun. Paying for things ain’t fun either.
Usually asking a consumer to perform two non-fun activities doesn’t fare too well for a company. We’re going with the Google approach with Glucose Buddy (free to consumer).
Great contribution!
Glucose logging application and its companion iPhone app provide insulin dependent diabetics a simple and effective way to manage blood sugar levels for a healthier, longer life.
Log For Life is a great program. Very easy to navigate and record pertinent information; combined with easy access from my Iphone/ITouch as well as their website from any internet based computer. However, in these harder economic times, when people are pushed into making choices of where their hard earned money will go, (medications, Doctor bills, etc.) the cost of over one hundred dollars for maintenace of their system is way to high. We wish we could convience the owners to roll-back the montly cost to a more reasonable and afforable fee of in the five dollar range per month. They would certainly gain more clients, immediately!; and when the economy starts to stabilize, which it will, they will already have a large, already built loyal client base at which time gradual increases in maintenance costs could be justified , better understood and taken with stride. Remember the rule – if you take care of your customers, your customers will take care of you by coming back, time after time. For my family and I (we have several members in our family that benefit from programs such as these) we have made the move to Glucose Buddy, which doesn’t have all the bells and whistles as Log For Life, but certainly meets the tracking needs that we require.