The Dudes project explored young people’s experiences of living with diabetes and how they would like to be supported in self-management using digital resources. In the early stages of development, Dudes is an interactive online education site for young people living with type 1 diabetes, situated within My Diabetes My Way. Dudes aims to support young people aged 17-25 years to understand self-management for their lifestyle, and has been developed by a collaborative team from Edinburgh Napier University, NHS Lothian and the University of Dundee. It was accepted by the Digital Health & Care Institute as part of an integrated ‘Digital Diabetes’ programme of projects seeking to develop digital resources to support self-management.

The Dudes Experience Lab took place in November 2016, following Pre- and General Labs exploring themes and questions that cut across the projects in the Digital Diabetes programme (commenced November 2015).

This report describes the Experience Lab activity for the Dudes project and a detailed set of findings. It begins by providing project background and aims, and summarises the relevant findings of the Pre- and General Labs (described in full in previous reports).
The findings are mapped onto the objectives of the Dudes project, presenting a detailed discussion of the current experiences of young people, in terms of the insights, attitudes and actions that relate to self-management. Feedback on existing resources for young people are presented, and information gaps and opportunities are identified.
Finally, the report presents design requirements, concepts and scenarios of use for the enriched young person’s zone, and the conclusions of the Experience Lab Team.