OVERVIEW

Timeline: September - May 2019 | Learn more here about Swiv’s progress beyond grad school!

Focus: Product Design | Design Research | Universal Design | Mechanical design

Collaborators: Jenna Borges | Kevin Paroda

Faculty advisors: J.D. Albert | Peter Bressler | Sarah Rottenberg

For my Integrated Product Design master’s capstone project, I collaborated with two teammates to address the challenge of toothbrushing for kids with cognitive disabilities. Insights gained from an intensive design research process led us to ultimately develop Swiv.

Tooth brushing is hard.

Swiv is designed to make toothbrushsing easy.

Swiv is a first-of-its-kind toothbrush designed for the needs of kids with cognitive disabilities that completely changes the motion needed to effectively brush teeth. By reducing the physical complexity of brushing, Swiv reduces all kinds of complexity: brushing becomes easier to learn and easier to focus on.

Our goal was to help kids with cognitive disabilities achieve independence in their daily self care.

Toothbrushing is a significant barrier.

DESIGN PROCESS

Our team spent 6+ months conducting contextual research which included visiting families, dentists, schools, and special needs therapists to learn about the challenges they have with toothbrushing and the solutions they’re currently using to address them. These experiences lead us to identify 3 main criteria to focus on… learning the task, maintaining attention, and performing motor functions.

Ultimately, synthesizing our research lead to one key insight: all of these challenges arise from the physical complexity of toothbrushing. We reframed our objective to address simplifying the physical complexity of toothbrushing.

We continued collaboration with stakeholders throughout the product development stages, including brainstorming, prototype testing, feedback, and design iteration.

CONCEPT

Swiv reduces the physical, cognitive, and focus-based challenges that make tooth brushing even more difficult for kids with disabilities.

By designing for people with the greatest challenges, the outcome is more accessible, inclusive, and effective than existing products, making it desirable for people with and without special needs.