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10 min readMar 9, 2023

“Design Thinking Unleashed: The Key to Elevating the Bathroom Experience”

The Bathroom is an essential part of our daily routine, where we take care of ourselves and prepare for the day ahead. It’s a place where we want to feel clean and refreshed. But let’s face it, maintaining a clean and organized bathroom is not an easy task, especially when it comes to keeping our toiletries in order. It can be overwhelming and frustrating. When our bathroom is clean and well-maintained, it can have a positive impact on our mood and day. It’s a space where we can relax and recharge, and having easy access to our toiletries can make all the difference. So, let’s roll up our sleeves and tackle the challenge of keeping our bathrooms sparkling and our toiletries easily accessible!

As part of UX Mastery under the mentorship of UX Anudeep, I was given an opportunity to Improve the User Experience of the Bathroom Area by applying the principles of Design Thinking.

✅ Project Overview

So, for our first design thinking project, we were split up into groups of 6–7 people and given 13 different areas of a house to choose from. Each area represented a problem topic related to home space, like the bedroom, bathroom, balcony, kitchen, terrace etc.

The aim was to mimic the real-world scenario of a company where stakeholders come together to share their unique perspectives and opinions to make the best possible decision.

The project had certain constraints

The product you came up with should be a physical product
After the First Iteration project must be ended.
User interviews were conducted within our group of 8 for peer review. It was a fun and engaging process that allowed us to learn from each other’s experiences, making the process fun and engaging.

This project aims to adopt design thinking, unlearn biases, and become better design thinkers. By doing so, we can create innovative solutions that meet users’ needs and solve real-world problems.

You must be eager to see the final prototype after the first iteration. Well, don’t worry, I won’t keep you waiting until the end to find out.

✅ Picking a Problem area

I had picked the problem area: The Bathroom

Choosing the bathroom for my project was a challenging but important decision. It is a private and personal space that is utilized by each individual on a daily basis. By understanding different perspectives and experiences within the group, I can identify common problems and work towards finding innovative solutions to improve the user’s experience.

“ I am not the user” Even though I had some assumptions about the problems users might face in their bathrooms, I reminded myself to remain unbiased throughout the project.

With the problem area identified, I was ready to begin the process of problem-solving using the design thinking approach.

✅What is Design Thinking?

Design thinking is a method of solving problems that revolves around understanding the users’ needs, feeling empathetic toward them, and creating solutions.

**Illustration explaining the design thinking process**

Stage 1: Empathize

The "empathize" stage of the design thinking process involves understanding the users’ needs, feelings, and behaviors to gain insight into the problem. So I just tried putting myself in the user’s shoes and looking for user pain points and behaviors to gather valuable insights.

✅ Preparing a Questionnaire

Preparing questions for user interviews should be conversational in nature and as open-ended as possible, so I keep that in mind moving forward with this.

Here are some of the interview questions, I structured them in such a way they are an icebreaker and initiate the conversation. These questions gave me the direction for the bring-out story from every conversation which is helpful to get those insights.

Tell me a bit about yourself? What are your hobbies? how do you spend your day? what do you do in your Mee time?
Define your Bathroom ( space, walls, doors, structure, area, space, and arrangements )
How many members do you usually share your space with?
How do you store your clothes and manage your laundry?
How do you manage your Toilleteries? how do you organize them?
Any safety concerns or any past accidents you’ve encountered?
Frequently used appliances in your Bathroom?
when was the last time you used someone else’s bathroom and you had a good experience?
Do wet floors bother you? do you have separate wet and dry areas? what are your preferences?
Do you have proper lighting and ventilation in your bathroom?
Have you ever confused Hot water and cold water taps which is which?
If you offer a free renovation what changes you would like to have in your bathroom?

✅ Interviewing my users

I took the interviews of 4 people in my group and scheduled the interviews accordingly, each interview lasts very conversational, and went with the flow I took quick notes and recorded the video with the participant’s content so that when I needed it, I could refer back to it later on.

✅ Insights from the interviews

Stage 2: Define

So, based on what users said in previous interviews, I looked for things that were bothering them and how they reacted to those issues. Then, I wrote down a list of all the problems I noticed.

✅ Noting down all the problems

In total, I got about 25 problems from the interviews I had with my group

Stage 3: Ideate

After noting down all the problems I applied the Crazy 8 Technique to come up with possible solutions, It is basically coming up with the solutions in 8 mins for each problem, it has no limitations to the ideas, and this helps in keeping ideas flowing in my mind and helps in thinking outside the box, even if the solution seems too impractical.

✅Solutions for the problems identified

**Solutions I came up with applying crazy 8**

✅ The Top 3 ideas came up with

After reviewing 38 solutions and eliminating all the impractical ones, I finally came up with the top 3 ideas to help the user because they have the potential for business yet are feasible to prototype and test with the user.

💡Top idea 1- Under the cabinet foldable Toilleries shelf / Rack

The idea is to help hold the toiletries, and it doesn’t take up lots of space and helps keep Toiletries in a much more organized way.

💡Top idea 2- A Set of bottle Dispense mounted to the wall

Bottle dispensers mounted to the wall are easily accessible, don’t take up lots of space, don’t hassle users too much, and are easily accessible and portable, yet save time and effort.

💡Top idea 3- An Underbox hanger with movable edges Pulled closer.

An under-box fixed compartment with a hinge to move upwards and downwards aids in the storage of clothes and essentials such as wipers.

Stage 4: Prototype

In this stage, out of three ideas, one idea is to be chosen for development into a prototype with the aim of creating a product that can be effective and accessible and help solve real user problems, thereby impacting businesses.

After a lot of thought, I moved on with the 💡Top idea 2, which is a set of bottle dispensers mounted to the wall. It took more time than I expected to choose, but I finally chose and defined its uses and how it will solve user problems.

✅ The Idea

The product I came up with is a “Set of 3 Liquid Dispensers for the Bathroom.”

The idea came from interviews where people said that they faced problems regarding cluttered shelves due to so many products but as I dig deeper into it the actual Cause is too many Big Bottles eating up all the space and Rack/ shelf might fall off.

Users generally buy products such as Shampoo, conditioners, body wash, and shower gels in big-size packaging to save money, and all the members can use the products, so it’s worth the money and price.

As I researched and even went to buy a few items at D-Mart, I saw that people generally preferred to buy big-size bottles of these items because: a) it saved time and effort to buy them again, b) they got great deals, c) the whole family could use that product.

So after a lot of trial error and I finally arrived at the prototype of the design.

✅ Explanation of the current Prototype

The prototype can hold 250–300 ml of product in the different compartments. It has a separate liquid compartment that is detachable and has a flexible adjustment knob for quantity adjustments. It has clear visibility of the product that has been filled.

Holders Attached to the PVC PLATE mounted to the wall, Set of 3 holders With the particular sizes measured so there are no clashes, it has an extra depth of support to hold on to the dispensers, and as mentioned, there is a grip to hold the dispensers tightly. So It’s not shaken up while used in the shower, and users can use it comfortably when it’s wet while bathing.

It is a set of three, mounted to the wall, It is designed In such a way that holds the capacity of liquid, has separate liquid containers that can be filled easily, and has a sleek and circular design for handy and hassle-free use for the users.

A more accessible, feasible product to use, it saves time and effort and makes the whole bathing experience hassle-free, Upside Down Of Bottle can utilize the product at its maximum potential, fully and effectively and efficiently. The travel-Friendly product makes it more sustainable to use.

Stage 5: Test

The testing stage of Design Thinking is the final stage in the process where the prototype created during the previous stage is tested with real users to validate its effectiveness.

✅ Testing the prototype with my peers

Positive feedbacks :

It is a beneficial Product, It is very convenient to use, and definitely saves lots of time and hassle to take Products.
Very good and useful very detailed prototype.
If It’s there in the market I'll definitely Buy it, Storage is a big issue and it solves a lot of Problems.
Kudoos👏Terrific piece of work.
Storage Of Products can be loved with the Prototype and easily incorporated into daily Lifestyle.

Need for improvement : ( Critical feedback )

will replace plastic bottles as humans tend to be lazy to transfer any product from one bottle to another
you can add the different size of bottles in case you develop a set of 3 bottles, Considering people for example if uses: 2ml of body wash in a single bath then shampoo will be probably 1ml and conditioner would be even less
Names and Labels Are not Clearly Visible Added to this Level of Flexibility adjustments can be Increased.
The functioning of the glass bottle was not clear enough.

✅ Iterations from the feedback

Different sizes with Different capacities of the Products Considering People use Shampoo And Bodywash More often Then Conditioner and According to that Flexibility of Levels can be adjusted.
Functioning of Glass Bottles is that clear visibility of the Product as the tendency to break or fall off, High-Quality Plastic Made separate Liquid CompartmentsWould be a Great Option.
Clear visibility of Products Names in the Different Dispensers So that users might not get confused.

**Final Prototype After First Iteration.**

✅ Future Scope of the product

Make furthermore iterations to make the design more Work efficient to the users
Research on methods Like how this Prototype Actually been created Internal System
Incorporate Multipuroses 3 in one product in real world
Enhance the Usability and Lifestyle shift to get a product accepted in the real world.

✅ Unlearnings

I became more perfectionist as I created Prototype in 3ds Max which consumes lots of time and energy, It’s not necessary to craft the Most Beautiful piece rather It’s work and Solutions Matter the most.

2. The key is to remember that I am not the user and To be Unbiased while crafting the solutions putting myself in the user’s shoes to get their Point of view.

3. What I realized is that interviews should be conversational in nature and ask more open-ended questions, so as not to overwhelm the users.

4. When you face limitations, it’s important to not get stuck on trying to make everything perfect. Instead, focus on finding a solution and taking steps towards it, even if they’re not perfect.

5. Design thinking An approach can be applied in the smallest and Even most day-to-day lifestyles; we just look at a certain problem in this way and change our approach towards it.

✅ Conclusion

Design thinking transformed my problem-solving approach. Even for a small problem like a bathroom experience, I analyzed user behavior and needs to create a useful prototype through ideation and brainstorming.

I had a great time working with my peers and learning from our mistakes, especially because our mentor, UX Anudeep gave us the chance to do so. Learning by making mistakes is important because it helps us remember things better and avoid making the same mistakes again in the future. I am thankful for this opportunity.