Drop•Watch is a smart bathroom water conservation system that fosters a collaborative green mindset. My solution includes two interactive prototypes, one meant to be displayed on a tablet inside a smart shower, and another for mobile. This entire project, from defining a problem to creating a prototype, was done as an Independent Study.
drop watch Shower app prototype
dropwatch mobile app prototype
GOAL Facilitate and encourage individuals to be more eco-conscious, more aware of the amount of water they consume, and reduce their water consumption at the household level. Invite family members to compete to meet water conservation goals to foster a collaborative green mindset–caring for our planet is a collective responsibility.
PROBLEM There is an urgent need to become more cognizant of our water consumption in the bathroom, where the most water wastage occurs. However, shower and bathroom use are a personal and routine behavior for Americans, meaning that it is difficult to break out of water-wasting habits, despite genuine concern for the environment.
- Average American Household Shower: 17 gallons. 8 mins. Approx. 2 gal/min
- 20% of shower water lost due to behavioral waste: letting shower run to heat up for several mins before showering
- unused hot water is both water and energy waste
- root cause of unconscious consumption: user cannot identify how much water is being used, and what that amount means
OBSERVATIONS
- Sink: leaving water running down drain while shaving, brushing, washing face
- Showers: leaving water running down drain while shaving, while lathering, taking long showers, using high pressure during entire shower, listening to music on phone during shower, turning on shower several minutes before showering to let water heat up
- Toilet flushes: single-flush toilets use more water to flush than necessary
-Lose track/unaware of how much water they are using; cannot visualize the water that has flowed down the drain and is out of sight
CONSIDERATIONS
-How might we convey the amount of water usage in a visual, digestible way?
-How might we improve efficiency and reduce waste in the household bathroom while not sacrificing daily personal hygiene activities?
-How might we help those that want to reduce their water usage follow through and break their wasteful habits?
-How might we bring awareness to the inefficiencies in the household bathroom to encourage users to be less wasteful/more eco-conscious?
-How might we introduce a positive, collaborative, mindset to caring for the planet among family members?
PROPOSED SOLUTION
Mobile Application and Shower Application that pair with a smart Shower Head/Sink/Toilet System that monitors bathroom water usage, reports usage data in a comprehendible way to users, personalizes the shower experience by giving users power to define their goals, and fosters competition between family members.
BRANDING
TYPOGRAPHY clean, sans-serif, modern, easily legible
COLOR PALETTE stick to a monochromatic look with mostly shades of blue, navy, and white, to allude to water.
Custom color palette made with adobe color
LOGO
logo ideation
final logo
MOBILE & SHOWER APPLICATION
PERSONAS
Family of 3: Susan, Karl, and Cassie living in a suburban single-family house
susan
- Buyer; wants family to be more eco-conscious
- Wife and mother
- Shares master bathroom with husband
- Likes hot, 15-minute showers; usually runs water for 5 mins so that it gets hot
- Occasional baths
- Plant lover
- Shaves in the shower, brushes at sink
- Has a high status, well paying job – professor at a university
- Environment, climate change are topics really important to her
karl
- Husband and father
- Shares master bathroom with wife
- Likes cool, 8-minute showers post workout
- Sometimes takes 2 showers a day, morning and evening
- Brushes and shaves at sink
- Well-paying job as an engineer
- Saving money on utilities is important to him
- Enjoys listening to music in shower
cassie
- Teen daughter
- Varsity soccer player
- Has her own bathroom
- Likes medium temperature showers, takes 20-minute showers in morning
-Sometimes takes second shower in evening after soccer practice
-Shaves in the shower, brushes at sink
-Enjoys listening to music in shower
Single Man: Joe living alone in a 1 bed, 1 bath apartment
joe
- Middle-class job in IT
- Likes lukewarm showers
- Takes 10-min showers
- Brushes and shaves in the shower
- Would like to save money on water bill and monitor water usage
- Doesn’t like being wasteful
- Often takes quick post-workout showers
USER FLOW
WIREFRAME SKETCHES
INTERACTIVE PROTOTYPES
FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS
- Offer specific suggestions for how to reduce usage e.g. install a dual-flush toilet
- Offer alerts as you use shower/sink to reduce water pressure if it has been high for too long
- Offer warnings for dripping faucets
- Explore how the water usage data progression shows how much water your family is saving, translated to dollar amount saved compared to last billing period
- Indicate amount of water saved in a comprehendible quantity eg “you saved enough water to fill an average swimming pool” rather than “you saved 10,800 gallons of water this year”
- How can we make use of the cool water lost due to waiting for water to heat up?
- Explore gamification aspect: how might this competition be extended from between family members to between households, neighborhoods, cities, and beyond?
