Designing a Physical Product as a Digital Product Designer

Let me take you through my process of creating a product that makes sliding furniture easier.

Published in

Bootcamp

7 min readJun 4, 2023

As a digital product designer, I am accustomed to creating pixel-perfect experiences on screens. However, my mentor Anudeep Ayyagari(UX Anudeep) challenged me to create a physical product that could be used in people’s living rooms. Although I was initially skeptical, I later found that the process is not so different after all. Whether it is pixels or atoms, it all starts with understanding users’ problems, finding the root cause, ideating solutions, and building the actual product that solves the problem.

In this case study, I will share the process, the product, and my reasoning behind every decision that had been made during this process.

Understanding the problems users face in their Living rooms

As a first step, I interviewed 6 users to understand their relationship with the living room, how they use it, and the problems they face.

After reviewing the interview notes and the insights gained from them, I identified the 3 most common problems that the majority of users faced:

Furniture is difficult to move
Cleaning the living room is difficult due to the accumulation of dust on the surfaces of various objects and underneath furniture.
Wires near the TV unit are tangled and unorganized.

The other problems mentioned by the user were very specific, hence I chose to ignore them.

Personally, I can relate to the first problem, as I encounter it on a daily basis. Since this is a universal issue that affects not just living rooms but any space where furniture is used and also indirectly affects the 2nd problem, I decided to focus on it.

To gain a deeper understanding, I asked myself a few questions in order to understand the core problem.

Visiting the IKEA store for more insights

I visited the IKEA store to gain a better understanding of the different types of furniture and any potential issues I might encounter.

I mainly focused on the furniture legs, as they are the most critical part responsible for friction and resistance while moving the furniture. I attempted to understand the various materials used, their shape, size, etc.

My Observations

Furniture with wooden or plastic legs tends to produce a squeaking noise when being moved.
Furniture with metal legs produces vibrations.
If the user lives in an apartment, noise can be disturbing for people living below them.
The vibrations can damage furniture made with fragile materials and multiple joints. Additionally, objects placed on the furniture can fall down due to these vibrations.

Based on data gathered from the user interviews and my personal observations, I understood the core problem I needed to solve.

The Core Problem

The friction or resistance between the floor and the furniture legs is causing difficulty in sliding the furniture, as well as producing noise and vibrations.

Products available in the market to address this issue

The product space in this area is highly unorganized, with very few major brands offering their products. The available products address specific issues, such as smooth sliding and floor protection, but none of them solve all of the mentioned problems at once.

Also, many products are not available in India and even if they are, the prices are very high.

Ideating for Solutions

I began sketching multiple ideas and attempted to modify existing products. During this process, I remembered an instance from my personal life: every time I moved the gas cylinder in my house, I placed a doormat underneath and slid it.

A simple way to reduce friction between furniture and the floor is to place a thick fabric under the furniture legs. This will result in a smooth sliding motion without any noise or vibrations.
Greater the Thickness, Lesser the Friction.

To test if this works for heavy furniture as well, I placed a sock under each leg of my bed and tried to move it. I noticed a significant reduction in the effort required to move the furniture along with zero noise or vibrations.

I chose this idea as using fabric is very affordable and since this is a problem that the majority of people face, it makes sense to make this an affordable mass-market product.

Sketching Ideas

Designing the Prototype

After careful consideration, I chose to go with using a thick and Elastic fabric that acts as a sock for the furniture leg. The reasons to go with this idea are:

Since the fabric will be elastic, it can seamlessly fit furniture legs of multiple sizes.
Looks aesthetically good, as the fabric will be tightly held around the leg with no extra bits sticking out.
The fabric will be firmly held from the sides, ensuring that it will stay in place and not come out of the leg.
Because it consists of only one piece, without any adhesives or threads, it is easier to remove and clean, which also makes it more cost-effective.

I prepared a sample prototype and shared my idea with the users I initially interviewed. Additionally, I asked them to try out the test I conducted, where they placed socks or a thick cloth under the legs of the furniture and noticed the effort required to move them.

The users also noticed the difference in the motion of furniture with and without the Fabric underneath the furniture. Overall, they were satisfied with the solution but had the following questions:

What kind of fabric will be used?
How durable will the fabric be?
How frequently will I have to change them?
Will they fit Furniture legs of all shapes and sizes?
Will they aesthetically look good?

Final Iteration

I did further research based on the feedback I received during user testing. The requirement for the Fabric — Thick, Durable, and Elastic.

Searching through multiple different products and fabrics online, I found exactly what I needed.

The materials used to make various products such as wristbands, socks, gloves, knee caps, etc., across different sports, are either thick cotton fabric or a mixture of cotton and polyester.

It is Thick, Elastic, and Durable. Checks all my boxes.✅

Based on this, I made a simple digital prototype.