
A support system for children aged 6+ with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and their parents.

Project Length: 1 year (2024-2025)
Background
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a chronic condition that affects the functioning of the digestive system and can disrupt children’s daily lives—at school, in social interactions, and in their sense of self-confidence. Alongside the physical challenges, children living with IBS often experience feelings of isolation and lack of control, and at times also face misunderstanding from those around them.
GUTSY is a support system for children aged 6+ and their parents, designed to transform the complex experience into an empowering and shared journey. It combines physical demonstration tools with digital tracking and accompanies the child and family from the very first stage of diagnosis to the ongoing daily management of the condition.
The journey begins at the initial meeting with the doctor or dietitian, where a soft, non-threatening textile demonstration doll is used to explain in a simple, child-friendly way what happens inside the body. Through the doll, an open dialogue is created, helping reduce fears and enabling the child to understand their condition in age-appropriate language.
Later on, the parent and child jointly use the GUTSY app, where the same character continues to accompany the child in daily life—helping track nutrition, symptoms, emotions, and habits, while creating a shared language for coping with the health condition.
GUTSY offers a comprehensive response for dealing with IBS in childhood, strengthening the child’s sense of control and confidence while encouraging open communication between parents and children. By combining tangible tools with digital resources, it helps children understand their bodies, monitor their health, and develop healthy coping habits adapted to everyday life.
The Problem
Children with IBS often struggle with physical discomfort alongside feelings of fear, isolation, and lack of control, which can disrupt their daily routines at school, in social settings, and at home. At the same time, parents frequently lack the tools and language to properly support their child, leading to misunderstandings, stress, and difficulty managing the condition together.
The Goal
To transform the challenges of living with IBS in childhood into an empowering, shared experience by combining playful physical tools and digital support that strengthen understanding, confidence, communication, and give children a greater sense of control and power over their health.
The Application

When a user begins their journey on the application, they are welcomed by the mascot, IBee, who explains how to get started and guides them throughout the entire experience. The sign-up pages collect initial user data to provide a starting point. As the user continues to interact with the application, it becomes more familiar with their preferences and usage, allowing it to deliver increasingly accurate results.
The main purpose of the application is for users to log the meals they eat each day. By tracking this information consistently, the app can analyze patterns and identify foods that may act as potential triggers. Over time, it provides personalized insights and guidance, helping users make informed decisions about their diet and better understand how different foods affect them. This continuous feedback loop allows the application to become more accurate and helpful as the user interacts with it regularly.


Lastly, in addition to logging their meals, users can also record their symptoms. Since symptoms don’t always appear immediately, the app allows users to set reminders to input them later - whether the next day or at the time they typically occur. Once the application identifies a food or ingredient that may be a potential trigger, IBee notifies the user and explains it in a child-friendly, easy-to-understand way.
The Design
The design needed to look professional, as one of the main users is the parent, while also keeping the child in mind, since the application is designed for them to actively participate. With this in mind, I made the app colorful, with large buttons, engaging illustrations, fun fonts, and ensured that the mascot is present throughout the design to create a friendly and inviting experience for children.

Colors
The app’s color palette blends pinks and reds inspired by natural human tones, enhanced with vibrant shades to feel lively rather than clinical. A blue accent balances the warmth, adding calmness and trust - reassuring for both children and parents. Gradients add depth and movement, creating dynamic, engaging visuals that keep children connected to the app.

Typography
To create a friendly yet clear interface, typography blends playfulness with readability. Titles use a “fridge magnet” font for a fun, childlike touch and a nod to food-important for an IBS app. Body text uses the modern, highly legible Assistant font. Font weight variations emphasize key points and support readability, making the interface dynamic and approachable.

Illustrations/Icons
The illustrations and icons throughout the app are playful and childlike, making it engaging, approachable, and intuitive for children. The mascot, Ibee, appears throughout the app with expressions that change according to the context, showing it’s always present while maintaining a consistent, friendly, child-centered design.
The Research
The beginning of my research started when I interviewed three professionals: a gastroenterologist, a gastroenterology dietitian, and a general dietitian. Each provided different insights on how IBS is usually managed and treated, with the main focus being changes in lifestyle and diet. I then spoke with parents, quoting them directly, which gave me the insights I needed to create something that would give children back a sense of control.


