Ekaterina Tomilov
HumiPet
3RD YEAR PROJECT | 3 MONTHS
HumiPet, designed for pets with Upper Respiratory Infections (URI), promotes respiratory health with a playful, pet-friendly design. Its safe floor placement encourages interaction while supporting pet well-being.
UX / UI Research | Pet Product Design | Wellness | Electronics
Design Brief
Design a humidifier that is safe to put within reach and promotes interaction from household pets, specifically cats.
Target market consists of cat owners, volunteers and pet boarders/daycares who either own a cat or take care of one with Upper Respiratory Infection (URI).
Research: Market
URI is common in pets, particularly during winter when the air is dry and humidity is low. Kittens, puppies, elderly pets, and those with compromised immune systems are more vulnerable to pneumonia.
Symptoms of URI can include a stuffy nose, difficulty breathing, lethargy, and loss of appetite. Increasing humidity to an optimal level can help reduce illness transmission, improve dry skin, alleviate breathing issues (such as allergies and asthma), and promote better sleep.
Industry Solutions
Highlighted- HumiPet's targeted features
Competitors in the category of humidifier which are qualified safe to be used for pets, except for RCOM Brooder RCU, there were no humidifiers made to be compatible with pets - Opportunity to further explore with HumiPet!
Initial Ideation
A Do It Yourself (DIY) solution, required owners to hold their pet's face next to the steam, which can be dangerous.
Cats are naturally intrigued by the mist and tend to be playful with it.
HumiPet is a combination of a standard humidifier; portable room humidifier, with the allowance of safe placement within reach; on the floor, as well as promoting interaction instead of hiding and putting it out of reach.
Exploring shape through sketches and rough prototyping for volume representation:
A skeletal prototype was made to represent scale and usability for user testing in combination with simple renderings.
The focus was on the grip area at the base, as well as user interface preferences.
Concept Development
After user testing, feedback was reflection were applied to the concept development. A second prototype was created to for a volume representation of the product as individual parts interacting with each other to make a whole.
Final Concept
More ideation after feedback... looking into ways of solving the following:
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More in depth research on internal components with physical humidifiers at valley village.
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Filling from the top, while the outlet tube being in the way.
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Manufacturability of all parts and their assembly.
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How to separate the reservoir from the base while avoiding spilling.
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How to include reservoir handling affordance without making a drastic change in concept design.
