We’ve all been there — the frustrating moments in a bathroom that leaves us feeling less than satisfied. Whether it’s dealing with cramped spaces, outdated fixtures, or lacklustre design, a poor bathroom experience can dampen our daily routines and diminish our overall sense of well-being.

I participated in a Design Thinking project mentored by UX Anudeep, where I focused on enhancing the bathroom experience for users to improve their quality of life and promote a healthy daily routine. As part of this project, I developed a solution: A Storage Box for the bathroom to prevent the mess caused by scattered cosmetics, toothpaste, brushes, shampoos, and grooming products.

Table of contents

What is Design Thinking Process?

Empathizing with the users

Defining the problems

Ideating on potential solutions

Prototyping the final chosen idea

Testing the solution with the users

Future scope of the product and learnings I had

👨‍🔬 What is Design Thinking Process?

Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative process that can be followed to solve complex problems. The process has 5 stages: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test

Each stage in this process helps us to understand the problem in a holistic way and ensures that the solution is user-centric. Since this is a non-linear way of solving problems, we can revisit the previous stages at any time during the process and arrive at a solution.

😀 Empathizing with the users

In this stage, I need to understand the user better in order for me to understand their needs and pain points. Basically, I need to see things from their perspective.

🔭 Insights I got from the users:

1. I need to come up with questions that are conversational in nature. These questions should revolve around how the users work at home and what potential issues could they be having.
2. Have a One on One call with them and conduct the user interviews. The users should feel comfortable and should not feel they are being interrogated.
3. Take notes throughout the interview session even if it is recorded.

Here are the questions I planned to ask during the interview session:

Each interview lasted for about 45 minutes and I managed not to ask any surface level or Yes/No type questions and I was able to derive meaningful insights.

Insights I got from the users:

📝 Defining the problems

In this stage, I would need to frame my problem statements based on the insights I derived from the previous stage. This would help in ideating potential solutions in the next stage.

🤔 What will I do at this stage?

1. Go through the Insights, recordings and interview notes and identify friction points or instances where the user has had a problem. This can also be something that they didn’t know would be a problem in the first place.
2. Create as many problem statements as possible. They should be contextual, not long, should not be solution-oriented and relevant to the Bathroom alone.

🔭 Here are the problem statements I framed based on my previous stage:

🧪 Ideating on potential solutions

I will be generating ideas for the problems identified. In this stage, I will use Crazy8’s technique to come up with ideas in a short span of time.

🤔 What will I do at this stage?

1. Take the problem statements and reasoning and keep it in front of me.
2. Set the timer to 8 minutes on a stopwatch.
3. Come up with as many ideas as possible, that will solve the listed problem.

💡 Here are the ideas I came up with:

Out of all these ideas now I have to shortlist only three of them. It doesn’t matter if the solution already exists in the market as long as it solves the problem.

The reason behind choosing them:

Idea 1: Based on the user Interview most of the users have a Storage issue in their bathroom and it will save a lot of time during the shower & also it will help to maintain a routine.

Idea 2: On Emphasize with users most of the users are having heat issues after getting a bath due to Hot water and a rise in the body temperature.

Idea 3: Most of the users are interested in listening to songs in the bathroom but they can't able to play their songs according to their interests because of the water issue

I Choose “ Storage Box” as the final idea I want to work with because a Storage box will solve most of the bathroom issues it will improve the experience and saves a lot of time during bath.

🛠 Prototyping the final chosen idea

This is where I will finally visualize the idea I have chosen.

🤔 What will I do at this stage?

1. Make a 2D sketch or a 3D model of the chosen idea/solution. It need not be perfect as the point of this stage is to prepare my prototype and quickly get it tested with the users.
2. If my solution already exists in the market, I will evaluate it and see if I can do some modifications to it to make it better.

🏗 Here is how I designed the prototype:

The prototype is a Storage Box called “GLOW STORAGE BOX”

Corner Shelves: Corner shelves are very useful and made up of stainless steel which occupies very less space it is very useful to store cosmetics and the water splits are came out from the holes in the stainless box.

Toothbrush Storage box: Toothbrush storage will help to organise the cosmetics at the top of the stand and it will help the users to hold the brushes without any mess. Once the brushing is done easily they can hang the brush.

Wooden Storage Stand: the Wooden Storage Stand consist of two holders where we can place the cosmetics and there will be a towel placeholder and soap holder which reduce the mess in storing the cosmetics and the soaps. the hook will help to hold the towels. with the help of this stand the storage problem will get resolved

Bluetooth speaker with Vaccum rubber attached: attaching the Bluetooth speaker with the Vaccum backside solves the problem of hearing the songs in the bathroom they can easily place the speakers in the walls where ever they want to place them.

📈 Testing the solution with the users

From the above 3 Solutions for storage, I have chosen the Second storage box and I have converted that solution into Digital Work using Figma.

👂 Here is the feedback I received from my users:

1. The storage box can have a mobile holder
2. the storage box can have a trimmer box
3. it would be helpful if a socket was available
4. hanger for towel
5. Fibre material suggested

Based on the Feedback I have modified the Product with respect to the user.

🚀 Future scope of the product and learnings I had

1. Planning to include a fan in the Storage box itself which helps to quickly dry the water from the storage box,

2. Planning to include the display with a music player in the storage box itself.

3. include a shampoo dispenser in the storage box.

👨‍🔬 Learnings I had by doing this project:

From this Project,

1. I have learned how to Think about a product from scratch and I have learned how to emphasise with users to know their likes and dislikes.

2.I have learned how to conduct user testing.

3. I have learned the Behaviours of the users.

4. Exploring multiple possibilities before converging on the best solution

You can reach out to me through:
📱 LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/aravind-s-ba3b3a96/
📧 Mail ID — aravind333ux@gmail.com

“I am presenting a case study on the “Sky Scanner” mobile app, which was the result of a 48-hour design challenge that I participated in with my groupmates, managing members, and mentor, Mr Anudeep Ayyagari. I am grateful for their support and guidance. Instead of discussing the process in depth, I will focus on the final outcome and its significance to me as a novice in the field of UI/UX.”

Here are the links to the product:

https://www.figma.com/proto/byKZ6xMTUXuEGrgRs1nF8k/SKY-SCANNER-PROTOTYPE?page-id=0%3A1&node-id=1%3A868&viewport=426%2C259%2C0.21&scaling=min-zoom&starting-point-node-id=1%3A868

1) About the Product

“Skyscanner is an app that assists users in finding hotels and other travel options, by providing a platform to search and compare prices for hotels via website and app.”

2) Problem Statement

“To Create a sense of urgency while making a booking through the mobile app”

The current booking process on Sky Scanner allows users to compare prices and availability but does not provide any guidance on when prices may change or when availability may run out. This can lead to users feeling uncertain about whether they should book a hotel immediately or wait for potentially better prices or availability.

Core Idea of the Feature: The core idea behind the Urgency Indicator feature is to create a sense of urgency for users when making a booking decision by providing real-time information about prices and availability and predicting future changes. This would help users make more informed decisions on when to book their trips and encourage them to book sooner.

3) Assumptions

It is assumed that users of Sky Scanner would be interested in real-time information about prices and availability and that providing this information would increase booking conversions. It is also assumed that the Urgency Indicator feature can be implemented in a way that does not disrupt the existing booking process or create confusion for users.

4) Constraints

It is important to balance the sense of urgency created by the Urgency Indicator feature with the need to give users sufficient time to make a booking decision. The constraint for the feature would be the challenge of accurately predicting price and availability changes.

5) Business Metrics Targeted

The Urgency Indicator feature on Sky Scanner is expected to increase booking conversions by encouraging users to book their trips sooner. It may also lead to an increase in average booking value as users may feel more inclined to book premium options.

6) Secondary Research (Desk Research)

As a part of my research for this challenge, I studied how other brands create a sense of urgency within users’ minds. By researching successful brands, I gained valuable insights and identified what “Sky Scanner” lacks and what to add to it.

7) Flow within the app

1. Home page: The user lands on the home page of the website, where they can see a navigation bar with options to search for hotels, view offers, and access their account.
2. Hotel Listing Page: The user is presented with a list of hotels that match their search criteria.
3. They can filter the results by price, rating, and amenities.
4. Hotel Detailed page: Users can view detailed information about the hotel, including photos, descriptions, room options, and pricing.
5. Validating book now pays later: The user is prompted to enter and verify their phone number before proceeding to the next step.The user will receive an OTP to verify the provided phone number

• The user will receive an OTP to verify the provided phone number

8) Low-Fidelity(Hand Drawn) Wireframing

8) Product Design

After wireframing I was pretty clear about what I had to design and how I have to do it. After taking into consideration the existing fonts and design of the app, I tried my best to respect the consistency of the app. The design is done by focusing on the android OS.

Here is the Widget I have Created for the Urgency Indicator for the Sky Scanner Application :

Here are the Screens I have Created for the Urgency Indicator for the Sky Scanner Application :

9) Usability Testing

“The screens above are the final version of the product, incorporating changes made after usability testing.”

User 1 -Feedback

1. Confusion between the counter and the offer timer
   2. Don’t know how to grab the offer from the counter widget
   3. confusion between user reviews rating and 5 -Star hotel levels

User 2- Feedback

1. Improve the Heading title
   2. UI is Simple
   3. highly viewed is not recommended for trending widgets.

User 3- Feedback

1. She can able easily understand and book the hotel
   2. Hotel Description can be improved
   3. Count-down widgets can be improved

9) Conclusion

the urgency indicator is an important feature of the Skyscanner mobile app that helps users quickly identify the best deals and discounts on hotels. Through usability testing, we were able to identify areas for improvement and make necessary corrections to ensure that the indicator is easy to understand and use for all users. Overall, the urgency indicator is a valuable tool for those looking to book hotels at the best possible prices.

9) Future Scope

The urgency indicator has shown to be a valuable feature for users of the Skyscanner mobile app. In future, we plan to further improve it by incorporating machine learning algorithms to personalize the deals and discounts for each user based on their search history and preferences, and also by adding the feature for notifications for urgent deals in real-time to make the booking process more efficient.”

“Thank you for taking the time to read this case study.”

You can contact me via mail at aravindadventure@gmail.com
We can connect at https://www.linkedin.com/in/aravind-s-ba3b3a96/

Urgent Alert: Keep an Eye on the Urgency Indicator while booking a hotel through the “SKYSCANNER”… was originally published in UXM Community on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.