ProGI — Case Study
FemTech · At-Home Diagnostics

ProGI

An at-home GI testing experience that pairs a redesigned stool collection kit with a digital companion, built to shorten the diagnostic road for women with chronic gut issues.

ProGI stool test kit packaging, collection tube, and prepaid mailer box in lavender branding
Team
Lauren, Talia, Josh, Kailani
My Role
[Add your contribution]
Timeline
Spring 2026
Focus
Product design, research, strategy
The Problem

Getting a diagnosis shouldn't take a year.

Symptoms fluctuate. Specialist appointments are months out. A first diagnosis is often the wrong one. We mapped the real patient journey to see where the delay was coming from.

Traditional path
Symptoms fluctuate
Unsure if it's serious
Referred out
2 month wait for a specialist
Misdiagnosed
Told it's IBS
Self-advocacy
Pushes for invasive testing
Correct diagnosis
It was IBD all along
~1 year, thousands of dollars
With ProGI
Order kit
No appointment needed
Collect at home
Private, guided process
Results + context
Symptom + cycle-aware read
Clear next step
Bring findings to a doctor
Days, not years
“
The current lab drop-off process often means a 30-minute wait, only to hear your name called out for your sample.
“Why did it take 2 months for a specialist?”
“Why was the diagnosis process so unclear?”
“Why was proper testing so archaic?”
Why Now

Women are structurally harder to diagnose.

The underrepresentation of women in medical research data has real consequences for how quickly they're diagnosed, and the market is starting to respond.

~2 wks
Longer average diagnosis time for women, across 62% of conditions studied (Sun et al., 2020; Pittell et al., 2023)
$45B → $75B
FemTech market size today, projected by 2035, driven by personalization and diagnostics
50%
Share of the global population that is women, still underrepresented in clinical trial data (Bierer et al., 2022)
The Solution

Less ew. More answers.

We reinvented the stool collection experience so testing feels less clinical and more like something a busy, health-motivated woman would actually want to use, then paired it with a digital tool that explains what the results mean.

  • 01
    Private, at-home collection
    No public lab drop-off, no waiting room
  • 02
    Designed to reduce disgust
    Gloves, nose plug, and a biodegradable collection bag
  • 03
    Context-aware results
    Symptom tracking layered with lab data, not just a number
ProGI brand exploration: poster, mobile app screen, website mockup, and sticker sheet in lavender and cream
Brand exploration & campaign direction
The Kit

Everything you need, nothing you don't.

Eight components, each solving a specific point of friction in the traditional collection process, from contamination to odor to the awkwardness of the drop-off.

Inside the ProGI kit: collection bag, tube, gloves, nose plug, wipes, instructions, and return mailer laid out with numbered callouts
1
Toilet-seat collection bag
Biodegradable, no direct contact
2
Collection tube + swab
Simple, standardized sample size
3
Leak-proof transport capsule
Protects the sample in transit
4
Gloves + sensitive wipes
Cleaner before and after
5
Nose plug
Reduces odor, ups comfort
6
QR-linked instructions
Step-by-step video walkthrough
7
Prepaid return mailer
Drop in any mailbox
8
CLIA-certified lab partner
ProGI owns collection, not the lab
ProGI digital dashboard showing a gut health score, symptom trend, inflammation signal, and recent test results
Digital Tool

Your results, explained.

Lab numbers alone don't help anyone. The companion app tracks symptoms alongside cycle data, so the same bloating reads differently on day 3 versus day 18, and turns a calprotectin value into a next step instead of a mystery.

85% of testers preferred ProGI to the traditional at-home stool tests they'd used before. Physical prototype feedback
70
Pre-order sign-ups during prototyping
85%
Preferred ProGI over prior at-home tests
Business Model

A phased path from DTC to payer.

“DTC is really hard, but your generation has a much higher appetite for products like that.” — Maurice Chang, Prairie Health

Phase 1

DTC Subscription

Kit + app, with repeat testing every 3–6 months.

Phase 2

B2B Telehealth

White-label to platforms like Maven, Nourish, and Everlywell.

Phase 3

Provider & Payer

Physician-sell plus value-based payer contracts.

Regulatory & Risk

Built with the clearance path in mind.

Regulatory
Class II IVD, 510(k) pathway
Consulting FDA early to confirm classification and claims
Privacy
HIPAA compliance
Compliant storage, consent flows, and data encryption
Sample quality
Contamination risk
Mitigated through intuitive, illustrated instructions
Care pathway
Clinical integration
Partnering with clinicians to route results into care
IP Landscape

The hardware space is open. The two most significant modern stool-collection patents were both invalidated by PTAB in 2025–2026.

Our protectable claim is the collection context record, the app captures NSAID use, cycle day, and recent diet at the moment of collection and links that metadata to the lab result. No standalone kit does this today.

No prior art covers combining fecal calprotectin values with longitudinal symptom tracking to generate an IBS-versus-IBD pathway recommendation.

Thank you

Because your health matters.

ProGI was designed to give women a private, guided way to start their GI diagnosis at home, and clear language to bring into the doctor's office.

Sign up for pre-order View the prototype
ProGI — Lauren, Talia, Josh, Kailani