Brief
Research
Ideation
Mapping
Prototype
Final Product
Takeaways
Secondary Research
We examined six key domains to ground our concept in brand values, user behavior, and real-world hydration challenges.
Primary Research
Field Observations
Conducted observations across 10 public locations to gain insights into users' hydration habits and evaluate existing hydration products
Airport
Hotel
Gyms
Universities
Public Parks
Cafes
A Glimpse of the solution
The Hydration Ecosystem We Designed
Every touchpoint—designed to make hydration more thoughtful, more inclusive, and more sustainable.
Mira
Water Vessel
FlowSynk App
Digital Experience
Akua Family
Water Vessel
Modu Tower
Outdoor Solution
How might we
Frame the design challenges as actionable questions.
1
How might we lead users' hydration experiences to meet every stage of their needs hierarchy?
2
How might we leverage emerging technologies in hydration experiences to satisfy users wellness needs?
3
How might we deliver the same convenience as single-use bottles without the negative environmental impact?
4
How might we empower a hydration experience to shape users' lifestyles
Brand Strategy
To stay true to Kohler’s ethos of “Gracious Living,” we mapped their core pillars—wellness, sustainability, accessibility, and elegant design—to the visual and experiential language of our product.
Accessibility
Sustainability
Wellness
Gracious Living
User Interviews
We conducted 30 interviews, gathering over 1200 data points from participants aged 18 to 65. The group was diverse in nationality, culture, and lifestyle, including students, working professionals, and retirees.
Interviewees Details
Age
18 to 65
Duration
30-45 mins
Lifestyle
Diverse Backgrounds
Occupation
🎓 Students
💼 Professionals
🧓 Retirees
Interview quesitons
Personas
Creating Ava it helped us frame touchpoints through the lens of luxury wellness.
Ava Reed
Tech Org's Senior Manager
Age
Marital Status
Neighborhood
38
Married with 2 kids
Affluent Suburb
I see water as more than just hydration—it's a vital part of my wellness journey, keeping me balanced, energized, and at my best in work and life.
Pain Points
Concerns about kids' health Inconvenience
Boredom with current hydration options
Difficulty in staying motivated
Wants & Goals
Clean and safe hydration experience, with a focus on well-being
Seamless, premium service
Customized wellness plans
System Direction
Based on our research and design opportunities, we developed a connected hydration system composed of three parts: a smart bottle, a public refill dispenser, and a digital app.
BOTTLE
DISPENSERS
DIGITAL APP
While the industrial design team led the development of the physical products, I focused on the FlowSynk app experience and designed the icon system used on the dispenser UI.
User Journey Map
Creating Ava it helped us frame touchpoints through the lens of luxury wellness.
Mapping the user journey helped us spot key moments where design could make hydration feel easier and more rewarding.
Lo-Fi Wireframes
Early layout sketches to explore navigation, bottle pairing, and hydration stats.
Our Subscription Model
We introduced a 3-tier subscription to support accessibility, personalization, and long-term wellness engagement.
Physical Product Overview
(Designed by ID Team)
The smart bottle and dispenser systems were developed by the industrial design team as part of our larger Kohler collaboration. While I did not lead the physical product design, I worked closely with the ID team to align app logic with physical behaviors — and contributed to the icon system used on the dispenser UI to ensure consistency across digital and physical touchpoints.
Customize
Customize
Customize
While the industrial design team led the development of the physical products, I focused on the FlowSynk app experience and designed the icon system used on the dispenser UI.
