Case Study · iOS App

The medicine is the easy part.

ProtoPep is an iOS app for people who self-inject from vials. It runs the part that isn’t easy. The schedule, the dose log, and the vial count that warns you before you run dry.

Role

Design Engineer

Timeline

10 weeks, 2026

Platform

iOS. Swift, iCloud

Launched

June 1, 2026

01 The Problem

We weren’t designing a calculator. We were designing the thing that keeps a months-long routine from falling apart.

I broke my ankle and ended up on a daily injection schedule drawn from vials. The medicine was the easy part. Running it was not. I forgot doses, redid the math every draw, and never knew how much was left. It lived in a Notes file, an alarm, and my memory. So I built the thing I wanted.

02 Three decisions that shaped it

One tap to log, even from the lock screen

People log the moment they inject. One hand, a wipe in the other. A form loses every time, so the action people take most often is the one I made the cheapest.

Inventory is a first-class feature

Compounded vials get backordered. Running dry mid-cycle is a real problem, not an edge case. So vial inventory sits at the core, with low-vial alerts.

Onboarding forks: GLP-1 or peptide

Both groups think about their protocols differently, but the engine underneath is identical. Pick your path and the app speaks your language from the first screen.