The goal of this project was to create a new water bottle to be given away to Prime Digital Academy full stack engineering students. The previous design was discontinued and many students considered it to be a little basic. I tried to work some creative magic and design a unique bottle for a unique situation. Although I'm pleased with the results and believe that goal was achieved, there are a few things I would choose to do differently in similar future projects. I believe constructing a much more detailed research plan would have allowed me to touch on a larger number of user needs, not just the niche group my design is likely to appeal to. With that being said, I learned a lot on this project and ended up with an interesting design concept that brings creativity and some fresh ideas into a very familiar market place. Let me take you through the process:
Research Phase:
Before I could begin conceptualizing designs, a few different research methods were used to gather information. I began simply by observing students at Prime, noting how and where they were using their current water bottles. Some testing on the original design followed to determine which features were working best and which ones weren't. At the end of this phase, I determined minimalistic and intuitive design was essential. Now it was time to brainstorm some creative additions.
Design Concepts:
I started by sketching ideas and adding them to mood boards like you see above. I ended up with two preferred concepts. Through a series of critiques and evaluations with other UX students, it made a lot of sense to combine both designs into one. The idea was a durable bottle with a removable wide base that was able to hold supplements that would slowly dissolve into the liquid. The reasoning behind the supplements, is that Prime is a fast-paced and intense academic program and I wanted a design that contributed to general wellness beyond just hydration.
Creating A Prototype And Testing In The Physical World:
The next step was to create a physical prototype and test it out on Prime students. I really enjoyed the challenge of creating a physical low-fidelity prototype that was able to perform the main functions I wanted to test. I was hoping to gain insight on how intuitive the functionality of the base was, if the size was a hinderance, and if the concept was interesting to students.
Constructing The Prototype
Completed Prototype
Ultimately I was able to determine that the functionality of the base was intuitive and easy to use. Some of the students found the size of the base to be slightly bothersome and they had concerns about ease of transport. Some of the participants found the idea to be intriguing and suggested they would absolutely use it if offered to them. Another student said he already had a preferred method of supplement intake and likely wouldn't use the design. All of the participants had concerns about the potential taste of the dissolved supplements.
Proposed Design Considerations/Alterations:
Lastly, using the information gathered from the prototype testing, I was able to create a list of things the design would benefit from in it's next iteration:
Make sure the base grips well and provides optimal balance but doesn’t extend too far from the body.
Create exclusive supplement packets for the bottle with attention to flavor.
Provide an activation feature for the supplements, so the user has a choice.