S E N S E — a sensory backpack
Design Brief:
Design a unique product proposal that addresses a personal safety issue in a meaningful way.
Course:
Products Studio III, Fall 2020
Timeline:
7 weeks
Sensory overload, defined as the overstimulation of one or more of your sense, is a common trigger for many individuals with autism, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, and others with heightened sensitivity. Experiencing sensory overload in overwhelming public spaces can pose a variety of safety concerns, currently addressed through very specialized products. My proposed product, S E N S E, integrates soothing sensory features into a single backpack in order to tackle sensory overload in an efficient, comfortable, and discrete manner.
I designed this multi sensory bag to be situated within the Nike brand as an extension of their existing assistive shoe line, FlyEase, in an effort to de-stigmatize the use of assistive products and create more inclusive fashion.
Product features
The three primary features of this backpack, which are mainly located on the single strap, are designed to combine elements from existing fidget devices, pressure vests, and alert or communication systems into a single sleek product. Below, you can find a more detailed description of these features and intended interactions.
Interaction storyboard
Background research
In starting to explore this problem space, I conducted secondary research to pinpoint the current sensory products and solutions on the market, as well as distributing a questionnaire to fifteen parents/ caregivers/ educators of individuals with autism to learn more about the safety concerns they have experienced. I chose to center most of my research around adults on the spectrum because of the added complexity of experiencing sensory overload alongside certain communication barriers.
From this, I found that existing products primarily serve to: limit the senses, shift attention onto a single sense, or to alert loved ones or caregivers in some form.
Based on this research, I developed the following persona in order to determine my criteria.
Criteria
As the secondary research and questionnaire results made evident, there are many separate products for limiting senses, focusing on a single sense, and alerting caregivers, but no single product that combines these objectives. Thus, I deducted that my end user would benefit from a product that:
reduces the amount of planning & number of items
provides easy and quick access to sensory products
is subtle, fashionable, and professional
Prototyping
In the ideation phase of the project, I created extensive low fidelity prototypes to quickly test various ideas.
While I was unable to conduct proper user testing due to social distancing restrictions, I conducted virtual feedback sessions with two end users, that helped me immensely moving into my final model.
Brand research
I chose Nike as the proposed brand for this product because of their clean and bold style, and their current efforts to create more inclusive products (such as their FlyEase shoe shown on the right). I see the rise of assistive fashion lines as an important first stride towards de-stigmatizing the use of assistive products and towards creating options that are just as desirable for individuals with disabilities as they are for able-bodied and neurotypical individuals.
