Enhancing the Bathroom Experience - A Design Thinking Case Study

Hi! I’m Prithvi Sagar, and I very recently got my engineering degree in Information Science from Ramaiah Institute of Technology. During covid, I had the opportunity to work as a UX design intern for a Singapore-based firm and was given tough yet intriguing projects to complete.

I came across a UX Mastery Workshop by Anudeep Ayyagari and jumped on the opportunity to learn from him. Here’s my Design Thinking Project’s case study.

This project’s primary objective is around using the Design Thinking Methodology to better understand users. The goal was to select a specific region of the house and determine the gaps that currently exist in terms of the user’s experience.

The users were none other than our teammates as we had previously been split up into groups of eight. I chose the bathroom as my subject because I thought it would be tricky to get users to be comfortable with talking about such a subject. And in my opinion, the bathroom is one space in the house that is frequently overlooked and doesn’t get much attention in terms of functionality.

My Approach

Empathize — Define — Ideate — Prototype — Test

It was crucial for me to recognise that I am NOT the user and that I must set aside any personal experiences in order to base the entire process on the users, in this case, my peers.

01 EMPATHIZE

Interviews were the most effective method for learning more about the user’s experience and problem areas. I conducted one-on-one interviews with five of my group members as part of my user research. I created a questionnaire in advance of the interview to aid in collecting data from the users. To understand how people use and feel about bathrooms, it was intended to ask un — biased descriptive questions. This enabled me to learn more from their experiences.

I catalogued a questionnaire that consists of demographic, open-ended, and funnel questions. The one-on-one interviews took place over a video call.

Questionnaire:

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. How many bathrooms do you have?

3. How many people use 1 bathroom?

4. Average number of times you use the bathroom and average time spent per session (shower and other usage)

5. First thing you observe when you walk into any bathroom.

6. Describe the structure of your bathroom (Attached/Separated, Structure, Arrangement, Walls, Floor, Ventilation, Indian/Western, preferences) [ Multiple follow up questions ]

7. Regular schedule of using the bathroom.

8. Describe your bathing process (Shower, bucket, tub)

9. What are the products you use and where do you store them?

10. How do you keep yourself entertained while using the bathroom?(mobile)

11. Do you have separate dry and wet areas?

12. Post bathing, where do you get dressed? [follow up: where do you keep your clothes while bathing]

13. Where is the towel placed while bathing?

14. Describe the WC in your bathroom

15. Describe the lighting in the bathroom

16. Do you have any pest related issues in the bathroom?

17. Describe the bathroom cleaning process (Who, when, how)

18. Is the bathroom in an immediately reusable condition after usage (odour)

19. How long does the floor take to dry after bathing?

20. Do you have a separate flush for urination and pooping?

21. How do you dispose of the waste in the bathroom?

22. Are your Summer and Winter habits the same? (Showering and others)

23. While bathing, do you have hair fall?

24. How often do you pick up the hair clogged in the drain?

25. Do you use the bathroom in the middle of the night? [ Follow up: does the light strain the eye]

26. Is there anything about your bathroom that bothers you?

Situational:

27. Are you familiar with children and elderly family members using the bathroom?

28. Do any of your elderly members of the family need any sort of assistance in regards to usage of the bathroom?

29. Do they feel comfortable with walking in and out of the bathroom?

30. Have they ever communicated any concern regarding the wet parts of the bathroom?

31. Do they need assistance walking in the bathroom?

32.How do the elderly members bathe? (assistance/self, stand/sit)

Insights

It was now time for me to analyze each interview and identify user pain points by carefully going over the call notes and interview transcripts.

In order to be empathetic to users, one must be a good listener and comprehend their challenges, as I discovered when conducting these interviews. The fact that my subject was bathrooms made it really challenging at first to ask particularly awkward questions, but it ultimately got easier as I tried to make them comfortable before getting started with the interview. As a result of which I soon began to discover several pain points that I could address.

02 DEFINE

It was time to synthesize the findings from the interviews, define the problems, and articulate why users value having those problems solved after carefully reading over the insights obtained from the interviews.

1. Wet bathrooms can lead to many problems, including sliding, falling and damp clothing.

2. Water splashing out of small sinks and over the body.

3. There are various issues surrounding storage space, such as keeping essential products by the sink and even having open storage for cleaning supplies in the bathroom. Unreachable slabs for storage is also a major concern.

4. Poor ventilation makes the bathroom take longer to dry, takes longer to get rid of the bad odour, and leaves towels and garments damp.

5. The bathroom’s congested layout makes it difficult to move around and put the essential materials in their proper places.

6. Less natural light results in higher electricity usage.

7. Fallen hair clogs the drain by accumulating there.

8. Lack of good ventilation causes the bathroom to become steamy, fogs the mirror, and even produces water droplets that impair visibility.

9. After a shower, the floor must be wiped down to prevent moisture buildup because the water splashes and seeps into other areas of the bathroom.

10. Bathrooms become congested, tougher to manoeuvre, and appear smaller due to protruding storage cabinets.

11. Confusion results from a lack of distinct markings on the cold and hot water taps.

12. The bathroom is infested with crawling insects and bugs, and occasionally they even get on the brush, which is unsanitary and alarming.

13. Without a hanger, the towel and clothing must be kept on the floor or another area must be found.

14. Elderly people worry about slipping in the bathroom. They require a chair in the bathroom since they sit down to take their baths as well. They cannot bend entirely, thus the bucket must be at an appropriate height. They find it difficult to reach for the items, and getting up from the toilet is also exceedingly problematic.

15. Older folks are prone to slipping and falling due to the wet flooring.

16. Switches become wet after a hot bath, which increases the risk of shock.

03 IDEATE

I applied an ideation strategy known as the Crazy 8’s which is a well-known design sprint exercise, where you are given 8 minutes to come up with 8 solutions to a problem. It is an effective way to stimulate our minds so they can come up with solutions quickly.

Following the method, I tried to figure out solutions to each problem. While some solutions were quite silly and impractical; and for some problems, I couldn’t come up with eight solutions, but eventually was able to come up with about 44 ideas in total. However, after analyzing all of the solutions, I realized that some of them were not practical enough to move forward with. Finally, I ended up with a total of 36 solutions.

Next step was to narrow it down to the top 3 ideas and solutions.

1. Stability and Mobility Assistance

The idea of older folk using bathrooms is one that is surrounded by many worries. They require assistance with these daily duties on a constant basis. They may complete the activities on their own, without the fear of slipping or falling by taking support of a grab rail.

2. Behind door storage compartment

Many individuals do not have adequate storage space due to their small bathrooms. They ultimately store them out in the open in congested places, such next to the sink. Storage behind the door would not block anything and also keep the bathroom neat and tidy as bathroom doors are always kept closed whether inside or outside.

3. Water clogging due to hair collected in the drain

Water clogging can be a major problem. As the entire draining and pit must be cleaned out, repairs may prove to be exceedingly costly. Hair loss is a significant yet a natural phenomenon, particularly for women. Every day, fallen hair must be picked up in order to prevent clogging.

04 PROTOTYPE

I was now at the stage where I needed to pick one idea to move forward with. I had now grown emotionally invested in each of my 3 ideas, which made this part particularly challenging. But something I’d previously learned occurred to me: I’m not the user! I needed to figure out which idea would be most beneficial to the users.

Problem Statement: Majority of the bathrooms do not have a separate dry and wet area and hence there is a high chance of instability or slipping. More commonly, old folks require human assistance in the bathroom due to the fear of falling and slipping. They are in constant worry with regards to instability.

On the wall along the side of the door, a grab bar is to be mounted. They can walk while holding onto it and not be concerned about slipping. This would assist in walking in and out of the bathroom while providing them some support.

My mother and I gripped the long curtain pipe on either end while my grandfather attempted to grab it and walk out while the bathroom was wet. He asserted that he found it safer and less frightening to slip while strolling outside. He moved cautiously because he was a bit concerned that we wouldn’t hold it firmly, but once it was secured to the wall, he said it would have his entire trust.

With the help on an Architect friend, we created a model on Sketchup, then rendered it on Enscape.

05 TESTING

After designing the product and creating a prototype, I invited the other members of my group to discuss it. I presented my work to them, and they provided feedback on the product.

Feedback is a crucial step, until you test your products with the user you won’t know whether your product works or not. Because just solving the problem is not enough. It is important that it works!

User concerns

If the bathroom is small, a protruding grab rail might not look appealing and would also take up extra room, clogging the space.

How will someone be able to reach the grab rail if they are walking across the middle of the bathroom?

Apart from their concerns and feedback, they also expressed their appreciation for the product and stated that it definitely seems very helpful.

Iteration

The next and final step in this design thinking project is to make iterations based on feedback!

I have learnt that the key to creating great experiences is to learn from my mistakes. I sought to make improvements to my design after identifying some serious flaws post the feedback on the product.

A grab rail will definitely take up some space making smaller bathrooms more congested.

I reiterated my idea for a seamless support cavity in the wall as opposed to a grab rail. Not only does it resolve the issue, but it also offers other advantages like giving soft illumination and not straining the eyes when turned on in the middle of the night. Additionally, it favours a better design and improves the aesthetics of the bathroom.

Future Scope

Let’s move on and explore what the product’s future holds now that we have a deeper understanding of how the various stages work together.

Feature- In a perfect world, I would like it to suit all bathroom sizes and be able to offer seamless support regardless of where they are walking in the bathroom.

In order to improve the product based on the insights and feedback I receive, I would like to conduct another round of usability testing.

Key Learnings and Takeaways

Yayyy! This brings us to the end of this Design Thinking Project. I’ll now have an entirely different outlook towards approaching any problems in the future.

• While looking at a problem, it’s important to remember that I’m NOT the user. We must put our biases aside and empathize with the users.
• Being a good listener would be something I learned. Listening to your users is crucial; when they describe their experiences, we often identify several pain points.
• While one problem can have multiple solutions, but one solution can not solve all the problems. I have unlearned that not all problems can not be solved, not every idea can be executed, and you have to keep in mind that there is a time limit for everything and we have to deliver the project in that time.
• There is no need to go for futuristic products and functions to solve your problem . The solution can be very simple as long as it is efficient and is enhancing the user’s experience.
• Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative process. At each stage, I had to go over everything I had done several times.
• Lastly, the most important thing to learn was to unlearn. It was important to let go of my pre-existing mindset in order to be open to new ideas.

Thanks for your time in scrolling to the end and reading my case study. If you like the case study do click on clap. I would appreciate any reviews and feedback in the comment section.

I’m currently open to opportunities as a UX Designer. Do reach out to me on prithvisagarkn@gmail.com for any feedback, discussions or collaborations, I’d be more than happy to have a chat with you!