Here at Penn we have a research platform where we try to motivate (among other things) medication adherence. We have integrated with various devices in the past that automatically track when the meds are taken, but for some reason the vendors of these devices always seem to flake out. We've been thinking lately that a simpler approach where people just push a button when they take their meds might be more sustainable, especially as a simpler device may reduce our dependence on those outside vendors.

What we're looking for: A simple, preferably small device, that we can program to make HTTP calls home to our server. Participants in our studies are scattered geographically and not all of them have wifi, so cellular is crucial. We have done studies with anywhere from a few hundred to a thousand+ participants, and hope to scale up beyond that as well, so cost at scale is a big factor. Today I came across bt.tn, and I love the UI simplicity of their product, but their prices are high, and it seems they don't include SIM cards with their buttons. Particle.io's prices are more in line with what we're looking for (especially the $3/month data fee), but my concern is that (at least from their website) the devices still look like hobbyist electronics with PCBs still visible, rather than like simple consumer devices.

Does anyone have suggestions for something with the UI simplicity of Amazon Dash or bttn but without bttn's price point? (Or feel like making us 500 or 1000 such things? The economics can totally be worth it.)