Improving a Morning Routine
Completed as part of Delft Design Course, 1 month.
How might we use the morning routine to create a sense of agency for caretakers?
This challenge from the Delft Design Course tasked us with improving the morning routine for a client of our choosing. I chose to study a wife and mother. It was my first introduction into human centered design.
Skills Gained
Design Process
Ideation
Testing and Prototyping
Journey Mapping
I observed the client during her morning to map out her routine. I noted the emotions associated with activities.
Insights
While there is pride that comes from caretaking, she felt a lack of agency and boredom during her routine.
The routine needs to be flexible to meet the varying needs of her family and different days of the week.
While she wants to wake up earlier than her family, it limits her activities and enjoyment of the morning since she doesn’t want to wake them.
Requirements
I determined that I was trying to solve for either 1) maximizing the efficiency of self care, or 2) maximizing the time for self care.
Maintain caretaking quality
Quiet, unobtrusive
Easy to Use
Prototypes and Testing
I started to ideate around ways to meet the requirements.
After reviewing with the client, I settled on 3 that seemed interesting: white noise headphones that the husband could wear when sleeping, a portable self care station, and an automatic coffee maker.
Result
The client liked the white noise headphone idea the most, so I investigated different form factors. Ultimately, there was concern around the comfort to wear while sleeping and whether it could become part of the husband’s habit.
