FINNEAS

Adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease face a daily challenge that goes beyond medicine — managing invisible habits like hydration, exercise, and medication while trying to live like any other 14-to-18-year-old. Sickle cell crises are often triggered by dehydration, yet existing interventions feel clinical, conspicuous, and patronising.

We ran a C-Sketch collaborative design study with five students from diverse disciplines, generating concepts across five preventive habits. The session produced ideas ranging from arcade pill dispensers to Dune-inspired moisture-recycling suits. Through thematic coding of 25+ concepts, four design themes emerged: gamification, smartification, anthropomorphism, and cognitive offload.

Our final concept, Finneas, combines a sensor-embedded smart water bottle with a companion smart frame that acts as a fish tank. Finneas is a fish avatar. As you drink through the day, his tank fills up — more water, more vegetation, more life. Fall behind, and his tank empties and he looks sad. The focus isn't on daily volume but on drinking frequency, which research shows is the key driver for habit formation. The smart bottle goes everywhere with you; Finneas greets you at your desk when you get home.