Challenges

The biggest design challenge has been reducing user friction across the entire experience. In the U.S., acquiring a CGM requires either a doctor's prescription or enrollment in our research study. On top of that, there are issues like high costs, shipping hurdles, faulty devices, and slim hardware margins.

Explaining the distinction between Levels membership and CGM ordering adds another layer of complexity. Plus, you have to sign up and connect the CGM to the hardware manufacturer's app before connecting to Levels—more friction.

To counter this, we needed both trust and a trigger to convert potential customers to members. Our typical customers have a health concern they're looking to manage or resolve, and they're usually already well-versed in glucose monitoring as a potential solution. Their trust is built on the vocal success stories of other members and our highly regarded medical advisory team. Without these factors, we wouldn't have convinced so many to invest nearly $400 in a membership and an initial CGM delivery.

Process

At Levels, I truly learned the meaning of agile software development at a rapid pace. Test, learn, iterate. A low-ego environment where anyone can assume any role that's needed, as experimentation is the company's DNA. The focus is not shipping to see what happens, but to see if a hypothesis can be confirmed or disproven, and why. Documentation and transparency are key, memos over meetings, and asynchronous preferred—all while building in public.

In this setting, various approaches to design and development have been explored—be it product-led, design-led, or engineering-led. Engineers have been are designing in Figma, and designers have pushed commits.

A humbling journey, and a true team effort aimed at doing whatever it takes to find product-market fit with a world-class team that puts a strong emphasis on culture and unwavering belief in the overall vision.

Learnings & Takeaways

Continuous glucose monitoring is on its way to becoming a key tool for people to manage their health, yet it remains too expensive for mainstream adoption. Working with CGM hardware suppliers challenges us to control margins and keep prices low. Therefore, customer motivation must be high for initial purchases, and customer satisfaction even higher for month-to-month commitment.

Initially, the design team consisted of myself and a Design Director. Later, I led the design function independently. My role has been more entrepreneurial at Levels—doing what's needed, where it's needed, to find product-market fit.

Unlike my previous jobs with focus on mobile product ecosystems, this role required a broader approach. Levels is a $300 million business on a mission to find a profitable way to sell CGMs. Trying to combat the obesity and health crisis affecting not just America – but the entire Western world – is hard problem. The story is being written as we speak, but I think Levels will make a difference long-term.