User research
UI design
Service design
Graphic design
Branding
Market research & business
Process documentation
ROLE:
TEAM:
Year
Sep 2020 -
Jan 2021
SEREN LURVINK
DAAN TANKINK
DIH AN HOO
BRECHT VAN GILS
JORIS VAN RIJN
THE CHALLENGE:
Signify in collaboration with the Eindhoven University of Technology, challenged our interdisciplinary team to create a proof of concept solution to combat circadian disruption within a half year time.
THE OUTCOME:
By targeting shift and night workers, our team proposed a consultancy company that would support shift and night workers in dealing with their irregular lifestyle with a human-centered approach.
Circadian Disruption
How can we combat circadian disruption in our modern society? Signify, as the new company name of Philips Lighting, challenges our interdisciplinary team to answer that very question. Since light has a significant influence on the biological clock, Signify suggested exploring technology solutions that could connect with their smart lighting systems such as a light tracker or similar wearables technologies. We were appointed its design and research partner on an exciting journey that led to an unexpected solution.
The Challenge
The service
EDUCATION & COACHING
Provide workshops and coaching that educate and support employees to live with their biological clock.
SUPPORT & COMMUNITY
Show compassion to employees and build a community for sustained support.
PROVIDE & CONNECT TOOLS
Provide employers and employees with self-help tools & products available on the market.
AWARENESS & RELIEF
Relieve employers of their problems and creating awareness trough Social media.
We noticed that quite a lot of research was done on the topic but that this information was quite technical and complicated for non-experts.
01. Research
Through literature study, we focus on understanding the biological clock and the effects of a disrupted circadian rhythm which led us to the following insights:
1 —
It' s importance
Circadian rhythms are responsible for modulating the daily patterns in several important phenomena, including the sleep/wake cycle, hormone secretion, and levels of alertness and performance in humans.
2 —
The influencer
As light is the most important factor that synchronizes the circadian rhythm with the 24-hour rotation of the earth, it has large effects on its functioning, and in turn, people’s health and wellbeing.
3 —
The problem
On average 87% of the people spend most of their time indoors. During the day, the light levels indoors are commonly much lower than outdoors, while evening light levels from artificial light sources are relatively high. This modern lifestyle is often seen as a cause of the mismatch with our endogenous circadian rhythms.
Existing Technologies
Through market research, we explored existing technologies ranging from smart lighting solutions to health tracking devices. Although non of these technologies targets the circadian rhythm in particular, they try to promote their customers in leading a healthier lifestyle
04. Market research
our pivot point
However, after our validation of the generated concepts and prototype, the customer desirability did not seem as high as initially thought. We realized we had to dive deeper into the user's needs. In order to bring a solution to the market that is viable, feasible, and desirable, we redirected the efforts to redefine its customer segment and problem statement.
Validation is key
Human Struggles
Focusing on the human perspectives, we collected insights on some perceived problems of a disruptive circadian rhythm. These insights we further grouped in themes to better understand the possible relation between certain pain points.
03. Define & Emphasize
Visualizing the biological clock
With Signify as our partner, we question their expertise in the field. We brainstorm multiple times with a postdoctoral researcher that is working on an algorithm that models the effects of lighting on people's health and wellbeing by taking light as input. During our sessions, she mentioned her biggest challenge is how to pack her work in a kind of product that might help users visualize their biological clock. How do you visualize a biological clock?
02. Expert interview
Idea selection
Rating ideas from different criteria's
Getting the ideas rolling
After having a clear picture of the technical, human, and business perspective, our team started brainstorming and ideating all sorts of products combatting the circadian disruption. These products often were a stand-alone or combination of smart lighting system + wearable/ physical product + app.
05. Brainstorming & Ideation
Ideation
Generating concepts
The Circadian Clock
Prototypes such as a physical clock and an accompanying app were developed with the following key features:
1) Indicating the type and the intensity of light needed at a certain time of the day.
2) Smart lighting feature would automatically regulate the type and light of your living environment.
3) Through the connected application the users would get coaching and recommendations about the biological clock.
06. Prototyping
FINDING THE CUSTOMER SEGMENT
In search for an opportune customer segment, a series of interviews were conducted with several potential target groups. Students, office workers, nurses and other shift/night workers were interviewed in order to define their circadian rhythm associated problems. As a result of these interviews, it became clear that shift and night workers experienced the most and greatest difficulties in this field. Therefore, shift workers, predominantly night shift workers, were selected as the main customer segment, as their demand and hunger for a solution was greatest.
08. interviews
Support is all they looking for.
Taking into account the problems of night shift workers, and applying 6-3-5 brainwriting technique, potential product ideas were created. After validating the ideas, it again became apparent that the ideas did not hold enough customer desirability, similar to previous products. Based on this insight, it was concluded there was little to no interest in such products at all. Ultimately, after conducting more interviews and focus groups with shift and night workers, we found that these workers experience a lack of support, lack of knowledge, and lack of tools to deal with their irregular lifestyle. And all they are looking for is support from the experts.
Defining the problem
"We had to move away from technology push solution!"
We decided to shift our product focussed search for a solution and pivot our efforts in developing a consultancy-based service solution. A service that the users and market were looking for.
BUILDING THE COMPANY
With that said, our next step was to develop a service blueprint and most importantly act as a consultancy company. For that, we executed several entrepreneurial activities.
Designing the brand
To bring the service to life, we created a vibrant identity that would strengthen and enriches the customer experience.
Positioning in the market
We brainstormed on how we would position ourselves in the market and in what way we would receive revenue.
Our service
We then decided the main pillars of our service and we developed our own content materials tailored to our user's needs.
Meet Circadia
The solution fo shiftworkers
By providing unique educational content, interactive workshops and personal coaching, Circaida startup helps to increase well-being and productivity both on and off the work floor. Circadia provides a business-to-business service to every company or institution that employs shift workers. We connect with them and create a plan that fits the company and its employees the best.
Circadia. Case study to combat circadian disruptions with Signify as a project owner.
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