Pluto Pod | Travel pillow designed in collaboration with IDEO and the Pluto team
I was a design contractor in this 8-week project, responsible for design research and interviews, brainstorming/ideation, sketching, low and high resolution prototyping, materials research, testing, final model production.
Skills: Sketching, Physical Prototyping, Illustrator, Pattern Making, Sewing
Project Summary
Pluto is a successful company in the pillow space and they wanted to grow their offerings to include a travel pillow. The brief was very open and our design team helped guide them through the process of researching the subject, creating concepts and testing them.
Research
We talked to a sleep expert, flight attendants and different styles of travelers to create guiding principles.
We wanted to create a one-piece and portable sleeping space for optimal rest in the airplane.
Low Fidelity Prototyping
After quick rounds of brainstorming, we jumped into prototyping to prove the concepts. We produced around 80 low resolution prototypes in the first weeks of this project, in which we tested different types of foam, fabric materials, concepts for breathability, portability and also different ways of creating a sleeping space in the airplane.
A portable sleeping pod.
After we decided on a direction, we started the refinement phase. We had feedback sessions to test different kinds of eye coverings, different types of hoodies, different kinds of materials and different kinds of pillow shapes.
We narrowed down the shape, type of adjustment and best face coverings and realized feedback sessions with users. In those sessions we also did a material study with users.
After that the team started working on refinement, in which we studied changes in the patterns, different fits and color possible color blocking using the panels in the pattern.
Chosen Direction:
Use seams to create an intentional fold when hoodie is
down, and pill shape adjustment features in the back.
Final Model
