Designing for Safe and Supportive Sleep During Pregnancy
Project Overview
For many people, pregnancy can cause a variety of changes both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Because of these changes, getting a good night's rest while pregnant can be an extremely difficult task. Along with increased physical pain in the hips and lower back, pregnant people can also experience insomnia and other sleep issues.
​
Our solution is a customizable pillow that allows the user to easily adjust their level of support to fit their needs and sleeping preferences.
FORMED: June 2021
MY ROLE: Designer/Researcher
SCOPE OF WORK: participatory user research, usability testing, user experience design, prototyping
COURSE: 515 Accessible and Inclusive Design: A graduate course at The University of Washington Human Centered Design and Engineering
TEAM MEMBERS: Lan Allison, Sabrina Chin, Rohini Mohanross
"How might we design a sleep aid that allows for our pregnant participant to get a better night's sleep, while also being safe for her and her baby?"
Timeline
Mid July 2021
Initial Interview with Participant
Mid July
Final Discussion and Project Summation
End of July
Ideation and Brainstorm
End of July
Co-Design Session
Beginning of August
Refine the Design
End of August
Finalize the Design
Research and Ideation
To conduct our research, we used participatory methods to understand our participant, their preferences, and the pain points they experience during their pregnancy. We conducted a user interview, a co-design session, and a final design interview.
​
During our research process, the team collaborated with our participant on Miro boards to understand the most important problems to solve. Next, we developed storyboards and created sketches to bring our concepts to life. From there, we established our design tasks and principles to help provide design direction. Once we finalized two design proposals we moderated a co-design session on Miro with our participant to understand her feedback. After the session, we chose one design to finalize and make adjustments based on the co-design session. Finally, we end the participatory research with a short review on Miro of the finalized product.
​
​
Design Goals
-
Get in and out of bed easily
-
Adjust sleeping positions in bed
-
Relieve body aches and pains
-
Ability to fit two people in the bed simultaneously
Design Proposals
Initial Ideations​
Wearable Solution
This first solution is a wearable short with built in hip and belly support. P1 commented that she needed hip pain relief and American Pregnancy Association stated, “Taking a warm bath or applying warm compresses to the sore area can reduce pain” (1). In light of this information we added concealed pockets that could hold ice packs, heat packs or massage packs, at the lower back and front sides of the stomach so the user could decide which form of relief was best for them. Additionally, we wanted to ensure the user could easily get in and out of the product without exerting extra energy especially if they are woken up in the middle of the night, so we added an adjustable velcro band that grows with the user’s belly, and also a zipper closure so the shorts are easy to take on and off instead of pulling on like a biker short. Finally, we added external pockets in between the legs that hold removable foam blocks so the user can add the blocks to align their hips as the American Pregnancy Association mentions, “using pillows to support your ...upper leg can alleviate uncomfortableness while sleeping” (1).
Ultimately, we chose a wearable design solution because our participant complained about the size of the product she is currently using, and how difficult it is for her to get in and out of bed and toss and turn at night. By creating a wearable solution that is attached to the user’s body, we can eliminate extra bulk and increase the ease of use while moving in the middle of the night.
Adjustable Solution
Our second solution is a customizable, adjustable pillow. Although there is already an abundance of pregnancy pillows currently available, what makes this one unique is the amount of customization that can be achieved. Our pillow can be compact for just between the knees use, or grow to as long as the body with the hidden expansion pockets and addable stuffing. In addition to the expansion, there is a moldable metal frame that sits on the inside of the pillow that can be shaped into whichever position suits the user. During our research we found there were many ways to use or place a pillow as Sleep Foundation advises pregnant people to “try tucking in a wedge pillow to support your belly, or adding a thin pillow between the knees to help relieve pressure on the lower back. Some women find it useful to hug a body pillow or place a pillow under the lower back” (3).
We chose an adjustable design because we wanted the participant to have a more customizable sleep experience. We felt that by allowing the user to shape the pillow and change the size frequently, that they had more freedom of movement and weren’t stuck with one determined shape for all of the different sleep positions. Additionally, by making the pillow more compact, it reduces the physical strain of getting in and out of bed. Lastly, by keeping to a familiar product, like a pregnancy pillow, it leverages the consumer’s mental model to easily understand how the product should be used and why the pillow would be an appropriate option.
Co-Design Session Takeaways
Our participant preferred the adjustable pillow design over the wearable design​
-
She was intrigued by the novelty of the wearable, but skeptical about it's practicality (ease of taking it on/off to use the restroom
-
She had safety concerns about the heat/cold compress or massage feature inducing early labor
-
She thought the pillow was more intuitive
-
She liked that the pillow could be adjusted based on the changing needs of her body during pregnancy and postpartum
Final Design Proposal
For the next round of prototyping we incorporated additional features P1 expressed during our design co-session. These updates include: adding a waterproof liner underneath the external fabric shell, so the outer shell and liner can be washed easily. Additionally, we want to add a mesh layer that contains the pillow stuffing so when the outer and inner layers are being washed, the stuffing is held together. We also appreciated P1’s desire to have a non-uniform fill throughout the pillow, so we are incorporating a compartment construction to the mesh bag so the stuffing can be added or removed in different sections of the pillow depending on the needs of the user.
In the final interview our participant suggested we add an informational guide highlighting the different pillow features. This would be included with the product as well as online video tutorials highlighting the variations of pillow customization, however, the design of this guide was outside the scope of this project.
​
​
Reflection
Reflecting back on the project as a whole, if we had more time and money for the design process, we would have experimented with different materials for the pillow design, and made a prototype. Since we didn’t have a physical prototype the participant found it difficult to imagine using the designs and give feedback. We would have tested our prototype used by our participant for a period of time and refined the design based on her feedback.