UX Case study: Enhancing the Experience of Bedroom

8 min readJun 9, 2021

I’m Gokulakrishnan Vijayakumar. As a 26 years old Civil Engineer, I found myself more interested in UX/UI designing recently. I’m here to just share my very first basic project under Growthschool guidance. It is a Bedroom Makeover. Yes! You read it right. Let’s begin!🕺

In this project, We were asked to interview our teammates. Professionally, We should call them “Users”. Yeah! UX itself describes it. I have started collecting ideas and improvements could be made, from users. They shared their real experience and what could be done to meet their needs. Now it’s little difficult for me to find the solution… Just kidding😜

My Design thinking journey starts here🧐🤔…

EMPATHIZE STAGE

It is the first step in the design thinking. In this stage I have to frame the questions and connect with my users to know what they feel about their current bedroom situation.

The bedroom is the most important space in the house. Creating an environment that encourages good mental health, proper sleep, improving concentration and productivity is vital. Considering above all, I drafted some questions as follows,

Do you have a bedroom in your home ? If yes, where is it located ?
Do you like to let your pet inside the bedroom ? If yes/No why?
Do you like to have a more spacious or compact bedroom ? Why ?
What about the choices of your bedroom theme & lighting ? light & calm or bright & bold, explain why ?
Do you like to have smart controls in your bedroom? like, motion sensor lights , smart curtains , etc…?
How do you feel about the window bench and balcony in your bedroom ?
Do you like to have a workspace in the bedroom ?
What is your idea about the wardrobe and dressing area in your bedroom ?
Do you like watching TV in the bedroom or in the living area ?
What are your inspirations in bedroom makeover from your experience apart from the above ?

After preparing such kind of effortless questions, I was feeling like achieved something in my life😂… then comes the magical moment. I never thought myself doing this. But, yes I interviewed my users.

Here are the key insights,

After interviewing my users, I come to know about the deeper personal understanding of the issues involved.

DEFINE STAGE

The second stage in the design thinking process is called Define stage. It involves collating data from the empathize stage. With that information, I have to identify the problems of the users.

From the users perspective, I listed down the problems,

Old fashioned — Most of the users feel discomfort with their current bedroom style and they stated that a lot more to be improved in their bedroom.
No dedicated work space — 75% of the users feel that they get distracted while they are working/studying in the living room or somewhere else in their home. So they need a dedicated work space in their bedroom to avoid distraction and to focus on their work/study.
Lack of relaxing atmosphere — Due to the routine work from home job in this pandemic, most of the users mentioned that they don’t have a space to relax themselves during their leisure time on their work.
Lack of positive energy — Most of the users stated that they feel lazy and unmotivated in their bedroom.
Storage space — Most of the users find storage space more important in the bedroom as they feel stressed and discouraged to see a clumsy and congested bedroom.
Lack of space to workout — Users feel that they don’t have a space for simple workouts like push ups and skipping.

With the demands and problems that the digital world places on our time, the need for a good quality bedroom is ever more apparent.

IDEATE STAGE

The main aim of this stage is to use my creativity and innovational ideas, in order to develop the good and long term solution for the users. Let me think🤔

After continuous brainstorming, Eureka! I’ve come up with the following ideas,

Customized workspace with the plug points within easy reach will help to connect laptop and other devices.
Installment of window seats. It offers better views and the best place for resting or relaxing.
Idea of enclosed storage like dresser and wardrobe to give extra storage and minimizing clutter. This will keep users well organized and to store everything unseen and dust free, from clothing and shoes to bed linens and towels.
Placing a full length mirror for making sure the users look best from head to toe. They also help visually open up the room by reflecting light, making even small bedrooms seem more open and airy.
A dedicated wall for art. Wall art (It can be a painting, photos, an eclectic gallery wall or whatever user chooses) is a great way to add depth and inject some color into the bedroom that gives positive vibes, makes users smile and makes their bedroom a nicer place.
Providing a space to workout. Having a physical workout space is the biggest advantage, so that users can exercise whenever they want and it is more convenient than gym.

From the above solutions , I finalized my best 3 ideas as below,

Smart Bedroom- Adding smart home technology can enhance a bedroom, as per users choice. With a few devices, users can make their bedroom more comfortable for sleeping, relaxing and for working. A smart display, lights, smart shades and smart plugs can help users get to bed and wake up feeling refreshed.
Installing a Window Seat- A window seat is a great way to add extra seating, as well as personality to a room. It offers better views, afford more privacy, better for resting or working(even for a coffee☕ time). Actually, let users control their own destiny, in terms of the position of the window shade.
Installing a work space- Tucking a workspace into the bedroom is to increase the function of the user’s bedroom and to avoid a separate work space in their home. Most of the users get distracted while they are working in the home. Users love a good privacy working nook, if users have the space; giving users a place to study, read and work.

I found myself more exciting at this stage.

PROTOTYPE

Prototype is the simple experimental model of a proposed solution in the ideate stage, that should be test or validate ideas. I decided to represent my Window seat idea in this stage.

To offer better views, better place for resting and relaxing, I feel window seat is a must have in the bedroom. Not only it’s a great place for users to get comfortable but they also can do their work when they feel lazy to work in their work space.

Perfectly proportioned window seat is a transformative accent that injects instant style into a transitional space.
It doesn’t need a ton of space.
Users will like their window seat, not only to sit and enjoy pretty views, but with an added advantage of built-in storage such as drawers and cabinets.

TESTING STAGE

Eventually, This is the final stage of the design thinking process. I have to repeatedly test the prototype and iterate the design by getting feedback from the users.

I got the following feedbacks from the users,

User 1 (Saumya)

I really like the idea of window seats. My only concern is while the window is open it can let in the mosquitoes and dust. It would really upgrade the setup if these things are also taken care of.

Q- How would you feel, If I installed a dust screen on the window and an air purifier to get rid of the dust and mosquitoes?

A- That will do the job I guess.

User 2 (Paridhi Gaur)

I like the idea of a window seat and the storage space that we can incorporate into it.

Q- Anything needs to be improved apart from this?

A- No, rest is all fine for me.

User 3 (Ayushman Khare)

I think the questions were better than all I have been interviewed by. Also they were very dimensional. Best thing is that the questions were both follow up questions and unique ones. At the same time, the questions could be more conversational in nature.

After getting the feedbacks, I made some changes in the prototype model,

Installing a dust screen — A dust screen is a protective film; users install on their window by attaching it to the window frame. It’ll prevent dust and mosquitoes from entering, so the users can keep the window open all the time.

Set up an air purifier — Placing an air purifier in the most dust accumulated area in the house will improve the place’s air quality. This device filters and circulates the purified air within users’ living space.

TAKEAWAYS

The first thing that I learned through the design thinking project is, a designer should be creative and accurate.
Design thinking is, how to understand every user’s interests and list out the possible solutions.
Have come to know how important is to identify the problems by asking the right questions and also listening to other issues being faced by a wide range of users.
The research should be done in the favour of users point of view and the result should be user friendly and gratifying.
Make sure the users are satisfied with the solutions.

My Users are happy, I am happy!