podzZz Nap Pod

Introduction

podzZz is a nap pod and mobile app that integrates audio, haptic, olfactory, and visual features to help college students de-stress. We designed the pod to be placed in multiple locations on Purdue University’s campus and accessible at all times a day.

Project details

  • Role: UX design

  • Date: October 2018

  • Duration: 9 weeks

  • Team size: 6 members

In this project, I worked closely with five students and took the lead in user research and mobile app design.

Research

We began with a contextual inquiry study at Wilmeth Active Learning Center, a popular study spot for Purdue students. We observed general student behavior regarding sleep and study habits.

We also conducted a comparative analysis to understand the scope of solutions for sleep deprivation. Products included various sleep apps like Sleep Cycle and Relax Melodies, wearbles like eye masks, headphones, pillows, and weighted blankets, and nap pods.

These methods helped us understand student sleep and study habits, in which we identified key insights:

  1. Lack of quality sleep is rampant among college students due to class workload, social events, and jobs

  2. Several students appeared to be napping in study spaces as a result of not having enough time to go home

  3. Sleep products are not typically targeted towards college students

Significance

With these insights in mind, we created personas to empathize with our user group and fully understand their pain points.

Design considerations

Reviewing our personas' experiences, we identified design considerations to be addressed:

  1. Cost: students often do not have disposable income

  2. Time: students' busy schedules do not provide time for prolonged rest or relaxation

  3. Accessibility: all students should be able to access sleep solutions with convenience

Ideation

Reviewing our design considerations and persona pain points, we narrowed our ideation to focus on naps, as the problem of finding a quiet and comfortable place to rest amid a busy day was a recurring theme among our user group. Therefore, we storyboarded napping-on-campus scenarios for students:

Proposal

We arrived at the solution of a sensory nap pod, podzZz, to be placed in multiple campus locations and offer fatigued students slight reprieve from their busy schedules. A quick 15-30 minute power nap would rejuvenate students' energy without disrupting their schedules or cause them to leave campus between classes or work.

Additionally, as we found most nap pods to offer a place to rest and listen to music in our research, we ideated on implementing audio, haptic, olfactory, and visual features within the pod to create an immersive, sleep-inducing experience.

User flow

We realized that users needed a way to control the sensory settings of the pod, and what better way to do so than through their personal devices? So, via Bluetooth connection, users' phones act as a remote control for the pod to customize all their sensory needs. This user flow demonstrates the progression of our cross-channel solution from a scheduled or walk-in perspective.

Low fidelity mockups

Next, we transitioned to low fidelity mockups to illustrate key features in the podzZz app.

1. User dashboard

2. Scheduling a nap session

3. Setting an alarm for the nap

4. Using sensory features in pod

Design

We mocked up a podzZz nap pod to fully visualize sensory features.

Physical pod

1. External pod design and features

We designed an elongated, low-profile pod to sit in various buildings around campus. This design is space-saving and utilitarian in its simplicity, offering refuge from the crazy stressors of everyday student life.

At a vacant pod, users can scan the unique QR code located on the exterior, unlocking and opening it for use. Scanning the code also connects the user's phone to Bluetooth, and enables them to control sensory features during their nap through the podzZz app. Additionally, the locker at the base of the pod provides storage for users' belongings.

2. Internal pod design and features

Inside the pod, users find a variety of sensory features for maximum relaxation.

  • Audio: Built-in speakers in headrest play users' chosen tunes to relax to

  • Haptic: Stress balls in side compartment calm user tension and anxiety. Additionally, pod chair has massaging capabilities, with settings adjustable through podzZz app

  • Olfactory: Scent diffuser lightly mists the user's chosen fragrance to the pod

  • Visual: Monitor on roof of pod displays users' chosen videos to fall asleep to

Other internal features:

  • Germicidal lamp: electric light that produces ultraviolet C (UVC) light, killing bacteria and cleansing pod after each use

  • Soundproof foam: acoustic panel that reduces noise impact, ensuring user is not disturbed by outside noises and vice versa

Reflection

podzZz was my first ever UX project, and therefore has a very special place in my heart. That being said, there are several things I would've done differently, now as a more experienced designer.

Firstly, my team and I's mindset was very solution-oriented, rather than problem-oriented. Don't get me wrong, sleep deprivation is a very real predicament among college students. Yet we didn't spend a dedicated time in ideation and brainstorming, instead dreaming up fun and wacky ways to solve our problem. Ideation, and our eventual final design, was done without constraints, resulting in somewhat of a feature bloat and making real-world implementation difficult.

Additionally, due to our limited knowledge of UX research methods, we mainly gleaned insights from our contextual inquiry study and comparative analysis. I believe this project would've greatly benefitted from user interviews or diary studies, as they would provide first-hand accounts of sleep deprivation and how students cope with it.

Lastly, regarding usability testing, I imagine an immersive and physical method of gaining user feedback—like bodystorming or Wizard of Oz testing—would provide rich data into users' mental models, understanding, and comfortability using podzZz.