The UX Story of Designing a Comfortable and Cool Laptop Table for Sofa
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introducing you to My Journey
Chapter 2: My Design — Presenting you a Comfortable Working Experience
Chapter 3: Let us look at the core problem that inspired the creation of this Laptop Table
Chapter 4: How did I indentify problems in the living room to Designing a Laptop Table for Sofa ?
Chapter 5: Five Critical Decisions I took which are the Backbone of my Creation
Chapter 6: What more could I have accomplished with an additional two weeks time?
Chapter 7: Three Lessons from this project I’ll carry as I continue to grow in this field
Chapter 8: Seeking your feedback to help me improve
Chapter 1: Introducing you to My Journey
I began this exciting journey, not knowing what I would create. It was like having puzzle pieces but not knowing the picture. I wanted to make something special — a real thing, like a superhero gadget.
This project is not about designing screens or websites; it is a UX project. UX or user experience, isn’t just about creating visually appealing screens. It’s a part of everything in our lives, and that’s what I aimed to showcase through my journey.
And guess what? This adventure led me to discover something really cool! 🌟🚀
Let’s cut to the chase and dive into the exciting part!
Chapter 2: My Product — Presenting a Comfortable Working Experience
Check out this video below to learn about the product I created and how it works.
I believe the video was self-explanatory, but just in case you missed it or prefer a closer look, here are some images along with explanation of how this fantastic laptop table works. 📷
👆 Height-adjustment is available for comfort and adaptability to your preferred sitting spaces
👆 The laptop table stand is equipped with wheels, allowing it to
move effortlessly under the sofa.
This brings the table comfortably within reach of the user while being seated on the sofa, perfect for working on your laptop.
👆 The tabletop has adjustable tilt, providing high flexibility to the laptop table design, along with a 360-degree rotate feature for added convenience.
👆 Another fantastic aspect is the flexibility it offers in adjusting your leg position while using your laptop on this table. You can easily fold or extend your legs as per your comfort, making it a user-friendly experience.
Don’t worry, I’ve got this! Even if your sofa and floor are best friends, I’ve designed a solution that’ll make them perfectly compatible.
Let’s take a closer look at what really happened 👇
👆 In this design, the rod to which the table is attached can be effortlessly adjusted back and forth, ensuring the table is always comfortably within reach for laptop use. This eliminates the need for the laptop table stand to move under the sofa.
Chapter 3: Let us look at the core problem that inspired the creation of this Laptop Table
The People I’m Designing For
Why Solving this Problem Matters ?
Its simple — to Enhance Lives
- It’s not just about convenience; it’s about users well-being. Laptops are crucial for work and leisure, and they should be used comfortably.
- It ensures better posture, relaxation without strain, and productivity.
- It’s about improving their overall quality of life, offering comfort and improve productivity at work and when chilling 😊👍
Chapter 4: How did I indentify problems in the living room to Designing a Laptop Table for Sofa ?
In our team of 10, we each chose different areas to focus on. I selected
living room as my domain. We worked on our respective topics, treating our team members as users and conduct interviews with five of them.
Now that i had enough ideas for various problems there was one problem truly sparked my passion: “The lack of a suitable setup for utilizing the laptop while sitting on the sofa.” It was an ongoing problem for many, including myself.
Ok, Let me tell you how i noted this as a problem during user interview
At this point, I had a clear vision that the product would be a table, and I once again started looking for ideas for laptop table.
Chapter 5: Five Critical Decisions I took which are the Backbone of my Creation
I’m sharing these 5 critical decisions because they were the Key Influencers in bringing this product to life. Of course, there were other decisions along the way, some were experiments, a few didn’t pan out as planned, and others didn’t significantly contribute to the final result.
But it’s these five that stood out and are the stars of the show, making all the difference in the end.
Critical Decision 1: The role of Follow-Up Questions
Let us understand this with an example.
This simple conversation demonstrated the power of follow-up questions in user interviews. It revealed valuable insights that wouldn’t have surfaced without that extra inquiry, inspiring me to create a solution for product that could enhance users experiences.
Critical Decision 2: Picking the Right Puzzle Piece
Allow me to introduce you to a concept that played a pivotal role in my project — the Convergent Concept 💡
In the end, these constraints led me to identify that one crucial core problem for my project.
Critical Decision 3: This is how i came up with Ideas without Limits
Coming up with ideas proved to be the most challenging phase of this project. You’ve already seen how I narrowed down to one problem using the Convergent Concept. Now, let me introduce you to its opposite: the Divergent Concept.
And once I had a bunch of ideas, I switched back to the Convergent Concept to choose the best one. It’s like finding that shining star among many possibilities. 😊🌟
Critical Decision 4: With this in mind, I designed it as you’ve seen
Prototyping is my absolute favorite part of the design process. Once I start working on a prototype, I get so engaged that I can spend hours at it without even eating or checking my phone; that’s how much I enjoy it.
A prototype is like a test version of something we want to create to make sure it’s good before we actually make the real thing.
Critical Decision 5: Here’s Why I Scrapped My Initial Product
The second time is the charm, right? Well, it was in my case.
The product you just saw was my second product. Now, let me tell you about my initial product and why I made the critical decision to discard it completely and start from scratch.
As I crafted the prototype of my initial product, I saw the potential for the product to serve as a dual-purpose solution. It could function as a laptop table for enhanced comfort during work and when not in use, seamlessly transform into a stylish Coffee table/Multi-purpose table for the living room.
To be honest, I didn’t find the product entirely appealing because it didn’t completely address my core concern. My primary objective was to enable users to sit comfortably on the sofa while having the freedom to fold or extend their legs as needed. This product didn’t offer that flexibility.
Chapter 6: What more could I have accomplished with an additional two weeks time?
Due to time constraints, my primary focus was on creating a product to address the core problem. However, with an additional two weeks, I would have implemented few more valuable enhancements:
- Detachable Tabletop: The tabletop would be detachable, serving as a separate surface for writing and sketching, offering ease of cleaning, flexibility, and space-saving storage.
- Additional Storage: Incorporating sliding storage beneath the table for pens, pendrives, and cables, keeping them organized and accessible.
These improvements would have made the product even more versatile and user-friendly, addressing additional needs and providing a superior laptop usage experience on the sofa.
Chapter 7: Three Lessons from this project I’ll carry as I continue to grow in this field
Chapter 8: Seeking your feedback to help me improve
- I’d greatly appreciate your honest opinion about the product I designed in Chapter 2.
Do you believe it effectively solved the core problem? - In Chapter 6, I have listed a few upgrades and additional improvements.
Can you suggest what more improvements I can add to make this an even better product? - Let me know if you have come across any other laptop table with similar functionality for addressing this issue?
Please share your feedback on these aspects in the comments section of this case study.
You can check LinkedIn post where i have explained this case study in a video.
I genuinely value your input and would love to hear your thoughts.
I am Happy to connect with you on Linkedin
