Amidst the uncertainty and fear of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, epidemiologists and public health experts communicated that the risks associated with infection were directly correlated to individual factors such as age, access to healthcare, vaccination status and pre-existing health conditions. As I live with vulnerable family members, I wanted to be especially careful about how I could reduce my infection risks. 

I looked online for evidence-backed tools that could help me make more calculated decisions. The most comprehensive and trustworthy tool I found in my search was the microCOVID Project, a web tool that let you input your location, vaccination status and most importantly, a custom scenario to determine your individual risk in that particular circumstance - taking into consideration local case rates. From this, a budget % would be output (this could be modulated based on individual risk profile, from 0.1%-10% yearly chance of infection). For example, I might find that going to the movies with a friend for 3 hours unmasked might take 30% of my weekly risk budget. 

Given that the inputs were context-dependent, I thought a mobile app for the site that you could take with you would be super helpful. So I designed a simplified portable experience for microCOVID, combining the risk calculation and budgeting features. The app also has a Friends tab to motivate users and a Streaks (how many weeks you’ve stayed within budget) to have fun with friends while socially isolating.

A companion Apple Watch app could further integrate the tracking features into daily life, but I decided that the inputs would have to be reduced and simplified significantly - making the estimates less accurate and useful (particularly for the vulnerable, the target users).