Background: Difficulty controlling or emptying the bowel is a common issue with devastating physical and mental health impacts. Digital technologies supporting bowel self-management remain limited. We are exploring a system combining an implanted sensor with a digital interface to support bowel self-management. This paper reports on the digital interface.

Objectives: To identify the information most valuable to adults living with bowel problems and the best ways to present it on the digital interface, informed by lived experience; secondarily, to gather their views on the sensor and implantation methods.

Methods: A participatory design approach was employed. Thirteen adults with IBD/IBS attended design sessions; five more with IBD/IBS and eight with other bowel problems attended evaluation sessions. Participants were primarily UK-based, female, and White. Design sessions explored interface priorities and lived experiences; evaluation sessions assessed usability and utility. Views on the sensor were gathered across both phases. Data were analysed using qualitative methods.

Results: Five themes were identified: balancing discretion, clarity, and stigma in presentation; balancing benefit and burden; encouraging engagement without exacerbating anxiety; supporting the move from data to information to knowledge; and supporting clinical communication and confidence. Ninety-two percent of participants were positive towards sensor implantation.

Conclusions: This study addresses a gap in the literature on digital interfaces for bowel self-management in combination with implantable sensors. It highlights faecal incontinence as a key patient concern, identifies priorities for information and presentation, and informs future sensor development. The work may have some limited applicability to other implantable/wearable sensors with digital interfaces.