Dan Sinha Water Jug - Specification Evaluation

LumeoStasis® Evaluation to specification

Brief Problem Area

Staying hydrated is beneficial to general health, as well as some specific maladies such as asthma. However it is not always easy to tell when the body is getting dehydrated (especially for the elderly) (Thirst only kicks in after the body experiences a loss of strength from dehydration).

Brief

Design a product to aid a user in staying hydrated. The product must be very simple in concept and to use.

User Testing

Bottle Cap - User evaluation against specification A Requirement

2

Priority level Should monitor water Essential consumption constantly with no user input Should be lightweight Essential

3

Should be portable

Essential

4

Should be compact

Essential

5

Should be easy to use

Essential

6

Should be aesthetically pleasing Should be compatible with common plastic bottle Should be trendy

Essential

1

7 8 9

Should look like a fashion accessory, not a sports or medical product 10 Should have minimal negative impact on environment 11 Should be easy to adapt for use with different people 12 Should collect data to build history of hydration levels 13 Should display nothing except drink/ don’t drink 14 Should be unobtrusive

Essential Essential Nice to have

Validation

User evaluation (#/10)

See appendix 4.61 (#7 - rated 10 for importance*)

10 - No user input required except drinking normally

9 - Lightweight materials used, AA battery adds weight 9 - As portable as it could be. Could incorporate a loop for carabiners 8 - Had to use an AA battery which increases size but otherwise good See appendix 4.61 (#5 - rated 9 9 - As simple as is possible. Colfor importance) ours may be slightly difficult to discern in some situations See appendix 4.61 (#13 - rated 9 8 for importance) See appendix 4.6 (100% of users 9 - Compatable with the most carry fluids in plastic bottles) common thread but not with Evian/Volvic bottles See appendix 4.61 (#14 - rated 8 - Desirable product 8 for importance) See section 5.6, appendix 7 4.61 (#21 - rated 8 for concurrence†) See appendix 4.61 (#8 - rated 10 for importance) See section 4.33 (Water increasingly seen as an on-the-go drink) See appendix 4.61 (#9 - rated 9 for importance)

Nice to have

See appendix 4.61 (#16 - rated 8 for importance)

Nice to have

See appendix 4.61 (#10 - rated 6.5 for importance)

8 - Use of plastics, but PET and HDPE are easily recyclable use of same material makes it easy to recycle 10 - Colour system makes this no issue

Nice to have

See appendix 4.61 (#11 - rated 4.5 for importance)

0 - Decided would complicate the design too much

Nice to have

See section 5.6, appendix 4.61 (#1 - rated 4 for concurrence)

0 - Simplified design in a different way

Nice to have

See appendix 4.61 (#6 - rated 2 10 - Very simple unobtrusive for importance) product

Bottle Cap - User evaluation against specification B Importance Functional 10 1. Must monitor water consumption. 2. Must provide water. 10 10 3. Must be very simple and unobtrusive - status instantly recognisable. 9 4. Must be easy to adapt for different activities - running, rock climbing etc. 9 5. Must keep user informed of their hydration level. 10 6. Must be readily portable. 7. Must be resistant to shock. 8 7 8. Must be resistant to elevated temperatures, humidities, sunlight and water intrusion. 10 9. Must be easy to learn how to use and minimise risk of catastrophic user error. 4 10. Should have the minimum negative impact on the environment. 11. Should collect hydration history of session. 4 Psychological 12. Must be very simple to use during activities. 13. Must encourage the user to drink. 14. Must be a pleasure to use. 15. Should be aesthetically pleasing.

10 10 9 9

1. Success: 10 2. Success: 10 3. Success: 9 - Some people may find some of the colour difficult to discern - Colourblind version is available which would solve this problem 4. Success: 10 5. Success: 10 6. Success: 8 - Lack of loop for carabiner 7. Success: 10 - Materials chosen for shock resistance, also design of shell with adequate wall thickness in places likely to receive impact 8. Success: 10 - HDPE and PET both have excellent resistance to these elements 9. Success: 9 - The interface is so simple that there is only really one working principal to learn - ie there is a very natural mapping between the users conceptual model of how the product works and the actual way that the product works. Also there is only one thing to remember which colour to aim for. This helps minimise user error, stress whilst using the product and any learning curve. 10. Success: 7 - Materials used are plastics which are inherently not very environment friendly, being made from crude oil (with a feedstock energy comparable to some metals) However these materials are easily recyclable, and the product has been designed to be easily recyclable. 11. Success: 0 - It was decided that taking a history would complicate the product too much and so this requirement was disregarded. 12. Success: 10 - There is nothing the user needs to do to use the product other than drink. 13. Success: 10 - By requiring the user to keep up with a changing target colour, they are drawn into a game, which encourages them to drink more. 14. Success: 10 - Because the product is so simple, there will be minimal stress incurred while using it. 15. Success: 9

Water Jug - User evaluation against specification A Requirement

2

Priority level Should monitor water Essential consumption constantly with no user input Should be lightweight Essential

3

Should be portable

Essential

5

Should be easy to use

Essential

Should be aesthetically pleasing 9 Should have minimal negative impact on environment 10 Should be easy to adapt for use with different people 11 Should collect data to build history of hydration levels

Essential

1

Validation

User evaluation (#/10)

See appendix 4.61 (#7 - rated 10 for importance*)

10

12 Should not interfere with daily activities

Nice to have

13 Should display nothing except drink/ don’t drink 14 Should be unobtrusive

Nice to have

8 - PET is very lightweight, but walls of jug had to be thick to maintain stiffness. Also electronics adds unavoidable weight See section 4.33 (Water increas- 8 - See above ingly seen as an on-the-go drink) See appendix 4.61 (#5 - rated 9 9 - As simple as is possible. for importance) Colours may be slightly hard to discern, especially while dimmed. See appendix 4.61 (#13 - rated 9 8 for importance) See appendix 4.61 (#16 - rated 9 - Easily recyclable thanks 8 for importance) to material choice and use of same material throughout See appendix 4.61 (#10 - rated 8 - Colourblind people will have 6.5 for importance) difficulties - will have to use special colourblind version See appendix 4.61 (#11 - rated 0 - This requirement was 4.5 for importance) scrapped when it was realised it would ruin the simplicity of the product See appendix 4.61 (#4 - rated 7 - Generally no more intrusive 4.5 for importance) than a normal jug. However at night the glow may become annoying. The dim function was intended to stop this but could become annoying in the daytime. A light sensor could solve this problem cheaply (only dims when dark). See section 5.6, appendix 4.61 0 - Simplified design in a differ(#1 - rated 4 for concurrence) ent way

Nice to have

See appendix 4.61 (#6 - rated 2 8 - Very unobtrusive, except for importance) dim problem (see above)

6

Nice to have Nice to have Nice to have

See appendix 4.61 (#8 - rated 10 for importance)

Water Jug - User evaluation against specification B Functional 1. Must monitor water consumption. 2. Must provide water. 3. Must be very simple and unobtrusive. 4. Must be easy to adapt for use with different patients. 5. Must keep patient informed. 6. Must require little/no training to use. 7. Must minimise risk of patient injury or stress through using product. 8. Must minimise risk of catastrophic user error. 9. Should minimise cost as far as possible. 10. Should have the minimum negative impact on the environment. 11. Should collect patient hydration history. Psychological 12. Must be very simple to use for patients and nurses alike. 13. Must encourage the user to drink. 14. Must not frighten or intimidate the patient. 15. Must be a pleasure to use. 16. Should be aesthetically pleasing. 17. Should look medical (as though it belongs in the hospital) but not overly so (it shouldn’t be drab or dull).

Importance 10 10 10 10 10 9 8 10 5 4 4 10 10 9 9 7 7

1. Success: 10 2. Success: 10 3. Success: 9 - Some people may find some of the colour difficult to discern - Colourblind version is available which would solve this problem 4. Success: 9 - Colourblind issue affects this product more than the bottle cap because users do not have the choice to buy the correct version for their needs. It is up to hospitals to provide patients with the colourblind version if needed, and this could be a hassle. 5. Success: 10 6. Success: 8 - This is especially important for the water jug as nurses will have to be trained in its use, and then explain how the product works to patients. The water jug is very simple but does have an extra complicating feature - the total drunk feature and reset button. However this is itself very simple and self-explanatory. 7. Success: 10 - Because the product is so simple it should minimise patient stress. The jug has been designed to be physically easy to use as well as mentally, for example the flat portion of the bottom edge which aids pouring without having to lift the whole jug up. 8. Success: 8 - The only error the patient could possibly make would be resetting the total drunk for the day which wouldn’t be the end of the world since it could be estimated. 9. Success: 8 - The materials used - PET - give excellent performance while being one of the cheapest plastics available. Injection moulding as a manufacturing route is not the cheapest but is really the only viable option for a plastic product of this shape. 10. Success: 7 - Materials used are plastics which are inherently not very environment friendly, being made from crude oil (with a feedstock energy comparable to some metals) However these materials are easily recyclable, and the product has been designed to be easily recyclable, using only one kind of plastic throughout. 11. Success: 0 - It was decided that taking a history would complicate the product too much and so this requirement was disregarded. 12. Success: 10 - See point 6 and 7. 13. Success: 10 - By requiring the user to keep up with a changing target colour, they are drawn into a game, which encourages them to drink more. 14. Success: 10 - Because the product is so simple, there will be minimal stress incurred while using it. The jolly colours and attractive design also serve to minimise any intimidating or scary effect that being in hospital could evoke. 15. Success: 9 16. Success: 9 17. Success: 8 - The use of PET gives a very clear, clean look, which is consistent with a medical, clean feel. Rope was use as a toggle to hold down the lid as a kind of homely touch, more akin to a duffel coat than a medical product. The evocation of this feeling was intended to allay any negative associations patients might have with overy clinical environments and serve to comfort the patient somewhat.