Process

01

Aging in place means growing old in the home allowing you to maintain independence as you age. Currently, 65% of American adults want to age in place, yet only 1 in 3 actually believe they will. The unfortunate fact is elderly people who live alone (1 in 3) pose more risks for themselves. Caretakers and family members aid with aging in place, but not all can afford a caretaker, have family living nearby, or require further assistance which shows that aging in place is a growing problem.

Problem Context: Aging in Place

02

In order to consolidate and analyze the data we collected from the research papers and in-person interviews, we created several user personas to contextualize key opportunities for innovation.

User Persona(s)

03

We came up with over 150 ideas and created over 30 sketches to figure out all the potential solutions to the problems we discovered. Some of our ideas included an ankle swelling monitor, a key finding tool, a magnetic cane, and finally, the bed wedge or “Koazzy”.

Concept Sketches

04

We created several iterations of “Koazzy” to both improve functionality and to lower the overall cost of the product. Creating an entire business plan including the cost analysis means that our product needs to be cheaper and/or perform better than the competitor. For us, that meant cutting out as much material as possible while maintaining the physical integrity of the tool.

Prototypes

05

When it came to the aesthetics of the Koazzy, our design panel from the first design review suggested that we “soften” the design because it was only made up of hard edges visually. To understand what the other members of the team considered “beautiful” we created a shared mood board to inform our ideal surface transitions.

Koazzy Mood Board

Ergonomic

A comfortable grip = A comfortable experience

Efficient

Make your bed more quickly than before

Effortless

The curved back allows you to use your leg for extra leverage when using the Koazzy

Empowering

Keep up your chores as you age

05

An important part of this project was “selling” our product at an online and physical tradeshow hosted by the Tauber Institute at the University of Michigan. For the online portion of the tradeshow, we created a website for the community members to learn about and vote for our product.

Koazzy Website

04

At the physical tradeshow, community members were invited to vote on their favorite designs in person created to meet the problem of aging in place. Displayed here is our booth we created with a banner, t-shirts, a tablecloth, and more to invite visitors to consider our product.

IPD Physical Tradeshow

05

Please watch our commercial to learn more about how Koazzy works and its benefits!

Koazzy Commercial