Ensuring Safety, Privately
Drinking Buddy is a private, yet public design that creates an experience where the user can feel safe and less stressed. The design is meant to ensure the safety of a user's beverage through ubiquitous computing. Findings revealed that safety is a constant issue in social situations. Despite current options to test a drink, the experience of insulting someone or drawing negative attention diminishes use of this technology. Multiple iterations were designed; the top three were a cozy, a penlight, and a straw. . The straw, practical and discreet, would decompose in a drink once a foreign contaminant was detected, thus preventing use through subtle indication to the user. This design provides safety to a user group without inviting outside opinion, peer pressure, or awkward moments.
Storyboarding to communicate the concept to the team.
The storyboard shows the need for Drinking Buddy.
Usability testing was done in-situ to get natural feedback from users.
Sketching of Drinking Buddy Concept.
