Integrated Product Design
During my final semester at Stamps (Winter ‘22), I joined the Integrated Product Development (IPD) course, an innovative and experiential program that brings together students from the Schools of Art & Design, Business, Engineering, and Information. This course creates a competitive product development environment and has been featured on CNN, and written up in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Business Week. The semester's Design Challenge focused on "Products to Improve Health Outcomes for Women."
During the semester, we were tasked with designing a tangible product solution under specific guidelines. For example, the target retail price had to be under $100 while still being profitable at a reasonable scale volume. We navigated the entire product development process, including:
Market Research: Understanding consumer needs and market opportunities.
Concept Generation and Selection: Developing and refining innovative product ideas.
Prototype Design: Creating detailed designs and prototypes.
Pricing: Establishing competitive yet profitable price points.
Production Process Design: Planning efficient and cost-effective manufacturing processes.
Advertising: Developing marketing strategies to promote the product at the trade show.
UX/UI Design Integration: Ensuring the products are not only functional and efficient but also user-friendly and accessible.
We successfully completed a refined prototype, a fully functional website, and an app to support our product. At the end of the semester, we presented our products at both web-based and physical trade shows. My team achieved the highest sales among the six teams that participated, demonstrating our ability to create a successful and marketable product.
The Problem Statement: to design and produce a tangible product that would help provide better Health for Women. Products might for example, help improve health for women, in one or both of the categories of reproductive and maternal health.
As the only art student on our team, I took a leading role in the design aspects of our project. Collaborating closely with students from Marketing and the School of Information, I spearheaded the creation of the logo, website, and app design.
Here’s how our interdisciplinary collaboration and my design contributions unfolded:
User Research and Persona Development: We began with comprehensive user research to understand the needs and preferences of women around the world regarding health products. Based on this research, we developed detailed personas representing our target users. These personas helped guide our design process, ensuring that our solutions addressed real user challenges and needs.
Concept Generation and Selection: Working with the entire team, I helped develop and refine innovative product ideas. With my design expertise I was making sure that our concepts were not only functional but also visually appealing and user-friendly.
Prototyping and 3D Renderings: I led the development of prototypes for our product, creating detailed 3D renderings to visualize our concepts.
Visual and Interaction Design: After selecting one product from our three initial ideals, we focused on its final design. We created a logo that effectively represented our brand and resonated with our target audience. I designed the website and app interfaces with intuitive navigation and engaging visuals to enhance the user experience. We chose a soft green color for its ability to evoke feelings of abundance, peace, refreshment, and security, aligning perfectly with our commitment to improving health outcomes for women and their babies.
Accessibility and Inclusivity: We prioritized designing products that were accessible and inclusive, considering diverse user needs and ensuring usability for different age groups, cultural backgrounds, and physical abilities.
Collaboration with Marketing and Information Students: Collaborating closely with Marketing students, we developed a cohesive brand strategy and promotional materials. Meanwhile, working with students from the School of Information, I ensured that the technical aspects of the website and app design were seamlessly integrated with our UX/UI principles.
Technical Development and Production Process: While engineers focused on technical development and manufacturing processes, I ensured that design considerations were aligned with functionality and production feasibility.
By taking charge of the design elements and working collaboratively with students from different disciplines, we successfully created a cohesive and user-centered product. Our final product, Exhale, is a wearable band for babies that measures the baby's heart rate, body temperature, and movement, and connects directly to a mobile app. Exhale aims to reduce the stress, worry, and anxiety of the mother, by improving overall daily positivity, and prevent shaken baby syndrome and sleep concerns for the baby. This hands-on experience not only enhanced my design skills but also taught me the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in bringing innovative products to market. The IPD course equipped me with essential skills and insights, preparing me for a successful career in product development and design.
Meet the Personas
Name: Monet Goode
Age: 32
Occupation: Marketing Manager
Family Status: Married, second-time mother
Location: Suburban area, New York
Goals:
Ensure a healthy and safe environment for her newborn
Educate herself about self-care and health
Reduce anxiety and feel prepared for the baby's arrival
Use reliable technology to assist in parenting
Challenges:
Anxiety about the upcoming birth and the baby’s health
Balancing work responsibilities while preparing for the baby
How Exhale Helps:
Provides a sense of preparedness with knowledge about baby health monitoring tools
Reduces anxiety by offering reliable, real-time health data once the baby is born
Eases the transition into motherhood with user-friendly technology and support
Name: Sarah Thompson
Age: 26
Occupation: Graphic Designer
Family Status: Married, first pregnancy
Location: Urban area, Chicago
Goals:
Ensure her baby’s safety and well-being
Reduce stress and anxiety associated with new motherhood
Find reliable tools and resources to help her manage her baby's health
Balance her career and family life effectively
Challenges:
Anxiety about the baby’s health and development
Lack of sleep and constant worry about the baby's safety
Limited experience with infant care
How Exhale Helps:
Provides real-time monitoring of her baby’s heart rate, body temperature, and movement
Offers peace of mind through instant alerts and data tracking via the mobile app
Helps her feel more in control and reduces anxiety with reliable health metrics