Portable Tea Mug
reuniting tea with tea lovers
Waiting in line for a cup of coffee, Joyce Kim (RISD Industrial Design '10) and I were discussing healthier alternatives to coffee when we realized there might be a market opportunity dealing with tea. We started doing some research.
Researchthe market and the people
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Our research began with interviews of tea drinkers wandering about the city during their lunch break. Observations on tea products they enjoyed gave us some sense of the tea market.
After much research, we found an opportunity to serve the health and price conscious middle aged working demographic who enjoy specialty tea (loose tea). Having noticed that much of the interviewers we were able to find were middle aged professionals, we decided on our target demographic.
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Taking the results from our interviews, we set our goals. Our interviewees needed a product that was portable, easy to clean and adaptive of both home and office tea drinking habits.
Concepts & Concept Testing
creating & testing directions
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After our first interview, my partner and I brainstormed ideas which we sketched and made models of. We then narrowed down the ideas based on the criteria we set for the project. We presented the selected ideas to our interviewees to check if any of them were on the right track. Besides their concerns for our current ideas, we wanted to gather more information in areas such as aesthetic direction and ergonomics. |
Concept Testing 2
mapping out the direction
 With the second interview, we were able to better understand the direction our product needed to take. One of the most important take away was that our target customers were mostly parents. They were knowledged and concerned of material choices as there has been a BPA scare among children's products when their children were young.
Refining Conceptmaking design decisions
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Aesthetics of our product was an important feature as well. Majority of our interviewers had mentioned to us the enjoyable qualities of tea that had them drinking tea over coffee and one of them was the relaxing feeling the tea gave our interviewees.
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Taking all that we learned of our target demographic and the market, we narrowed our idea down to one, and it involved two products; borosilicate teapot and tea mug. What we learned was the lifestyle of our target demographic who experienced various small inconveniences that could be eliminated with the right product.
The Conceptloose tea simplified
The mug and the teapot work together in creating a simpler way to drinking tea as much as they do independently. Both products use the same strainer, allowing users the option to steep leaves multiple times. The mechanism behind the mug's lid allows users to easily stop straining without making a mess and without being a hassle to clean.
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