Design Thinking Project — A better living room
Greetings, my name is Soumya Patil and I am an aspiring UX designer. I am excited to present my first “Design Thinking Project” , which I have approached in a non-textbook manner by leveraging the five stages of the Design Thinking process: Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. I believe that this approach has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of user needs, develop creative solutions, and refine my designs through iterative testing. I look forward to sharing my insights and learnings from this project with you.
My project originated from a productive discussion with my team of 12 individuals, where we were tasked with selecting a specific area of the home to focus our design efforts on. After considering various options, I made a compelling argument to convince my colleagues that the living room would be the most suitable choice for my project.
Empathize: Conducting the User interviews and try to understand Who are the users, What are the problems, When do they face the problem, Where are the problems and Why is the problem important to the users and How the product is going to serve the user problems.
Similarly, I have conducted 5 user interviews by framing unbiased questions related to the scope of the area.
Following were my questions :
- Do you have a living room?
- Where is it located in your home?
- How often do you use your living room(approximately how many hours a day)?
- What kind of activities do you do in your living room?
- What is the structure of your living room (what all it contains)?
- How about ventilation and lighting in your living room?
- How and where did you place your TV?
- Does your living room have furniture?
- What kind of furniture do you have in your living room?
- How comfortable are they?
- How many people can be accommodated on the furniture?
- How do you manage the guests? How will you seat them?
9. What things do you store in your living room?
- Where do you store them?
10. Which things make you feel uncomfortable in the living room?
11. What do you want to improve in your living room?
12. How is the overall experience of your living room?
13. How would you describe your dream living room?
The Empathise stage of the Design Thinking process was the most rewarding aspect of my project, as it afforded me the opportunity to interact with individuals who were previously unknown to me, in an effort to gain a deep understanding of their needs and the challenges they faced. This process proved to be eye-opening, as it exposed me to problems that I had not previously considered as a problem by myself. To accomplish this, I utilised a combination of prepared questions and spontaneous inquiries, which helped me to better comprehend the needs and experiences of the individuals I was interacting with.
Define: Write down all the problem statements of all the users from the first-hand notes collected during an interview from the user’s perspective because I am not the User.
During the Empathise stage, I had the opportunity to engage with several users to gain a comprehensive understanding of their living room experiences. For instance,
User 1:
- She expressed dissatisfaction with the limited space in her small living room, which led to difficulties accommodating guests.
- Additionally, she highlighted issues with the seating arrangement, as the distance between the couch and TV made it uncomfortable for her to watch TV for extended periods.
- Insufficient storage space was also a concern for User 1, as she struggled to find adequate space for her books, decorative items, and other articles.
- Lastly, User 1 noted that her couch was often unsteady, which created concerns when drinking coffee in the living room, as it may cause spills.
- User 2: The area has no proper ventilation and lighting. Limited switchboards in the area block the charging of electronic gadgets. The user is unable to speak loudly because of the location of the living room near the main door due to the fear of neighbours getting disturbed. The user doesn’t have enough storage to place stuff or decorative items.
User 3 and 4: The area has no proper ventilation and lighting, and limited switchboards in the area block the charging of electronic gadgets.
User 5: Spends around 15 hours in the living room. Sometimes sun rays from the window wall block/reflect his laptop screen from visibility. Whenever the guests arrive he feels disturbed as his work set-up is in the living room.
I intended to identify the problems faced by the users by having a casual conversation and understanding their interaction with the area and how they felt about it. The above stated are some of the pain points I could identify and finding solutions to these problems can make a desirable impact on their experiences while interacting with the respective space. Since in this project, I was tasked with finding solutions to all the problems of all the users that I interviewed so I started with the ideation phase.
Ideate: It is the opportune moment to explore and generate solutions that may not have been considered till the define stage.
A technique called “Crazy 8” was followed to identify 8 solutions for each of the problems in 8 minutes. In total 72 ideas were generated at the end of the crazy 8 exercise
After careful consideration of the user’s needs and priorities, I have identified the top three solutions that will offer the most value in addressing their problems, including improving the user’s experience in organising coffee mugs, enabling comfortable work from the couch, and providing additional storage for books and documents.
The top 3 Ideas were
1.Adjustable arm rest tray table for sofa which can be used to place the coffee, water glass, plates, phones and laptops etc.
2. A side adjustable coffee table with wheels can be used to place coffee and can also place the books and articles.
3. A portable coffee table can be used to place the coffee and it can be used for storage
Since the top 3 ideas identified were associated to the same problem. I re-defined the users and their problems in this phase. I made use of the approach 5 W’s and 1 H
“Who are the users?”- Users who have a small living room with no coffee table or work table, who don’t feel comfortable to work on by sitting on an uncomfortable chair, and who spends a lot of time on the couch for working or studying purpose, who needs some storage to place books or articles that should be easily accessible.
“What are the problems?”- Placement of Coffee or water glass on a couch now and then with a fear of falling off, for people with an uncomfortable work setup, users with less storage to keep books or documents in the living room.
“Where are the users?”- Users who use the sofa in the living room while chilling, watching TV, working or studying.
“When does the problem occur?”- Users get frustrated while placing the coffee mugs, water glasses, or plates while chilling, sitting or working on a couch.
“Why are the problems important?”- To eliminate the fear of coffee or water glass falling on the user or the sofa. Also for the users who are working from home due to the pandemic and would love to sit on a couch for working comfortably. Everyone will be happy if they find stuff like docs, books in a handy way.
“How users reach their goal?”- Users can reach their goal if they find a solution to solve multiple problems like placing a coffee on the couch while working/studying, can store their necessary docs, books, etc. And also makes them comfortable to work on a couch.
Prototype: This stage didn’t take much time to build it as I knew my users and what they needed.
In my quest to find a solution to the user’s problems of placing coffee mugs or other items while comfortably sitting on a couch, I conducted a thorough search and came across several existing products that offered similar features. However, my ultimate goal was to enhance the living room experience for users by providing a simple and affordable solution that effectively addressed their needs. While I didn’t invent a new product, I was able to identify and recommend the best available option to users, thereby achieving my goal of improving their overall experience.
The second idea was prioritised for the prototype.
Reason: Since this product solves multiple problems of the users like placing the coffee mugs/water glass, working from the couch at the comfortable position and also has the capability to store the necessary things.
Test- This is one of the crucial steps of the project in which I conducted a usability study with all 5 interviewed users by showcasing the product images.
I received valuable feedback from the users as follows:
- Some users have expressed difficulty in getting up from the couch suddenly due to the need to remove the table entirely from its wheel part, which can be inconvenient and disrupt their overall experience
- For users who primarily use the table for placing coffee mugs or working purposes, the excess space on top of the table may be considered unnecessary
- Although the product comes with storage compartments, the second and third compartments lack proper support, which may result in books or articles falling off if users attempt to place too many items in those compartments
I incorporated the feedback as I felt it could add more value to the product and hence revised the Prototype with these 3 modifications:
- Made the upper part (i.e. desk) with a rotating mechanism (180 degree) and a lock to fix the position. So users can rotate it whenever necessary
- The desk of the product has been made foldable (single fold) so the users can fold the unoccupied space on the desk if it’s not necessary
- Given a mesh structure around the shelf (3 sides) so that books don’t fall and also they can be easily visible for the access
The revised prototype is as shown below:
Conclusion :
I have learned many things while carrying out this project like:
- UX design is a discipline that combines both technology and psychology, where technology plays a critical role in designing products that effectively address user needs and psychology provides a clear understanding of user behavior and preferences, enabling designers to create engaging user experiences.
- The foundation of UX design is conducting high-quality and user-friendly interviews, which serve as a crucial pillar for successfully completing a project and delivering a product or service that truly addresses the user’s needs and solves their real problems.
- The quote, “I am not the user,” has become one of my favourite quotes in recent days, as it emphasises the importance of understanding user problems without introducing any bias from our own assumptions or experiences. This approach is critical for creating effective and user- centered solutions that truly meet the needs of the target audience.
This is how I concluded my first Design thinking project and I am proud to say that I am “Student for life”
Finally I would like to thank Anudeep and the team of Growth School for their constant support and guidance
Thank you…..
Reference:
Arm rest tray for sofa, Side adjustable coffee table, Portable coffee table
