BUCKIE
A modern simplistic style for better space-saving bathroom storage and eliminating mildew on products in the bathroom.
Flowchart
Problem
We often put several bottles in our bathroom, like shampoos and body wash. According to survey results of 5,783 people conducted by a Bathroom Storage Product Design competition, almost 90% of people consider mildew on the outside bottom of bottles and containers as the most annoying problem in the bathroom. The mildew, which is caused by the water puddles that often appear in humid bathrooms, is not only unattractive, but also a breeding ground for germs, which is difficult to clean after some days.
User & Audience
The target users of Buckie are people who frequently find water puddles in their damp bathrooms with no sunlight. These users may find mildew on bottles and containers in their bathroom, but may be lazy about drying the puddles and the bottles every time they use the bathroom.
My Role
Participating in the Bathroom Storage Product Design competition organized by Limitstyle, I designed Buckie with a friend through several discussions, sketching out the product, making a 3D model, and eventually printing out Buckie using a 3D printer. We also conducted user research through interviews in order to address user behaviors and habits.
Design Process
After sifting through bathroom storage products in the market, we found that most of these products are in full contact with the floor or shelves. “Point-contact” is what we first identified as the key feature of our product. Through point-contact, we could prevent water remaining on the bottles or containers. We sketched out our ideas and made some of them into 3D models.
Inspired by Buckyball, we designed “Buckie”. With the tubal linear structure of Buckyball, our product could reduce the possibility of water remaining at the bottom or contact point of bottles. Also, by applying materials like stainless steel or aluminum alloy, Buckie has more ability to prevent corrosion and maintain its structure after long-time usage.
Through interviews, we also identified “space-saving” as another important product feature for users. Buckie has a conical structure in the center, allowing users to put more items in the same place, fully demonstrating space-saving storage.
Challenge
Since there are various shapes of bathroom products, it was hard for us to decide the size of Buckie. Observing the size of shelves and bathroom products currently in the market, we eventually determined the size of Buckie. Buckie is big enough for different sizes of bottles, but small enough to put on most of the bathroom shelves in the market.
128mm
155mm
88mm
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Outcome
Buckie won first place in the “Bathroom Product Storage” competition.