From Concept to Clothesline: Unleashing Design Thinking for the Ultimate Terrace Experience.

The terrace, a versatile outdoor space, offers a convenient setting for drying clothes. With ample sunlight and fresh air, it serves as a natural and energy-efficient alternative to traditional drying methods.

Utilising the terrace for clothes drying not only saves time and money but also promotes sustainability by reducing the use of electric dryers.

But we face many problems on our terrace, these problems are solved through a design thinking approach which is explained in this case study.

Let's get started🥳

✨How did the project start?

For this Design Thinking project, we were divided into groups of eight individuals, each tasked with selecting a common household area to focus on. we have to choose any one of the areas from the kitchen, bedroom, and living room to the bathroom, utility area, balcony, home office, terrace, storage room, parking area, and more.

Everyone got their unique topics and we started empathising with users, This process aims to gain valuable insights into the user’s perspective, as well as a deeper understanding of their challenges.

I scheduled interviews with 5 users. Started interviewing users and was busy taking notes while interviewing. I focus to make users comfortable to the level which makes them express their pain points.

I asked the following questions:

1. Express some moments you had on your terrace?
2. How often do you use your terrace?
3. What activities do you usually do on your terrace?
4. What do you think is missing from your current terrace setup?
5. Are there any specific pain points you face when using your terrace?
6. How much are you willing to spend on a new terrace product?
7. Do you prefer products that are easy to assemble or pre-assembled?
8. Are there any trends in terrace design or furniture that you find .appealing?
9. How large is your terrace?
10. How much time do you spend on your terrace?

Post Interview

👉🏻Interviews gave me many insights and unlearning.

👉🏻The set of interview questions will not work.

👉🏻All the biases were left after the interviews.

👉🏻Got so many perspectives from various users.

👉🏻Follow-up questions worked.

✨Gathering all insights.

1. Identify common themes: Look for recurring topics, concerns, or pain points that emerge across multiple interviews. These common themes provide valuable insights into the shared experiences of the users.
2. Analyse responses: Analyse the responses to identify patterns, trends, and unique perspectives. Look for underlying motivations, preferences, and needs expressed by the interviewees.
3. Seek hidden insights: Look beyond the surface-level responses and try to uncover underlying needs and desires.
4. Use insights for ideation: The gathered insights serve as a foundation for ideation and brainstorming sessions.

I carefully sorted and categorised the common problems faced by users, allowing me to identify the primary pain points that needed to be addressed.

✨Now its time for coming up with solutions

I dived into the fascinating world of the Crazy 8 process, setting a timer for 8 minutes. During this exciting exercise, I let my imagination run free, jotting down as many ideas as possible, regardless of their unconventional nature. It was a playful and creative experience, allowing me to explore new possibilities with enthusiasm.

After considering various solutions, I carefully chose three ideas for further development. These selections were based on their potential to make a significant impact on the user’s experience and their practicality. I took into account factors such as feasibility, usability, and the value they could bring to address the identified problems.

Why do we narrow down the number of ideas?

1. Feasibility: Not all ideas are equally feasible to implement. By narrowing down the options, we can focus on ideas that are more realistic and achievable within the given constraints, such as time, budget, and technical feasibility.
2. User Impact: We want to ensure that the ideas we pursue have a significant impact on the end users. By carefully selecting a smaller number of ideas, we can dedicate our attention to enhancing and refining them to better meet the users’ needs and improve their overall experience.
3. Resources and Effort: Design thinking projects often have limited resources and timeframes. By narrowing down the ideas, we can allocate our resources and efforts more efficiently, ensuring that we can thoroughly explore and develop the chosen concepts to their fullest potential.

I narrowed down the ideas to one that was both highly useful and viable for consumers. The idea gives a solution for four different problems.

✨Prototype of the final idea

Product Description: A clothesline stand with various functions. It is easy to use the product. It has height-adjustable strings, and a protective upper cover for clothes for protection during summer and rainy seasons.The upper cover is made up of nylon sheets as it is a synthetic fabric it tranfers less heat which is suitable for drying clothes.The stand is 7 feet tall, it has a heavy bottom so it can balance even if heavy clothes are hung. The strings are made up of PVC material. The hook is made up of a brace as it is stronger and withstands more weight and is durable.

Why this product?

1. During rainy days we need not worry about the clothes hence there is an upper cover attached.
2. The upper cover saves the quality of the clothes by preventing direct sunlight from the clothes hence the colours of the clothes will not get faded.
3. The strings are height adjustable using a nob hence it is accessible for all users.
4. The strings are attached with a pulley so if we are not using the clotheslines line strings they can be removed as it has restoring tendency. Hence space on the terrace is enhanced.

A glimpse of the product.

Yeah finally its done🥳 . But one thing, we don’t know whether this product works as we expected right? so I decided to conduct a usability test with my team.

✨Usability testing

Feedbacks I got from usability test:

1. The upper cover can be foldable.
2. The maximum length of the strings should be mentioned.
3. There should be a solution to repair if the strings got struck in the middle.

Changes I made after user’s feedback:

1. I introduced a valve for closing and opening the upper cover.
2. This product is made of three different lengths and users can be able to pick according to their needs and space available in their terrace.
3. There is a opening in the string’s box is introduced so that users itself able to repair if the strings got stuck in the middle.

prototype of the product after the changes.

My key learnings from DTP

1. I am not the user.
2. Interview questionnaire should be used as a guide not as exact questions.
3. Going beyond surface level ideas.
4. Ability to participate in collaborative design and generate ideas.

Future scope of the product

1. Try to add storage boxes
2. Try to make more accessible on every iteration.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I am grateful for the opportunity to share my learnings and experiences from this process. It has been a truly enriching and fulfilling journey. Don’t forget to drop me some 👏🏻 and your feedbacks.

I thank UX Anudeep and and my team members for helping me thorough out this DTP.

Feel free to connect with me on linkedin.