Final Year University Project · Product Design — 2025
A connected oral-care system that turns a daily routine into quiet, guided care — designed around the hand, the bathroom, and the habit.
Project Overview
SmileO. began as a question: what would oral care look like if it were designed for the moment of use, not the shelf? Over four months I ran the project end-to-end — from field research to a resolved CMF and working prototype.
Lead Product Designer — research, ID, CMF, prototyping
40 weeks · 2025
Vizcom · Fusion 360 · KeyShot · Figma
Solo, with 2 advisors & 8 test users
Research synthesis · Concept directions · CAD & engineering · Appearance prototype · Usability study
The Challenge
Brushing is the most repeated health behaviour we have — and the least designed for.
Devices optimise for power and features, not for the two minutes a person actually spends with them. The result is friction, guilt, and abandoned routines.
Bulky grips, cluttered counters, charging anxiety, and feedback that nags rather than guides — especially for younger and older users.
Redesign the object and its ritual together: a calmer form, ambient guidance, and a home on the counter people are happy to see.
Research & Insights
Listening before
drawing
Across 8 in-home interviews, the deciding factor for daily use wasn't cleaning power — it was whether the object felt at home on the counter.
Competitor mapping showed a decade of feature inflation. The whitespace was emotional and ergonomic, not technical.
Design Criteria
Six constraints, one brief
Understood in seconds; guidance that calms, never scolds.
A grip resolved around real hand sizes and wet conditions.
Repairable core, replaceable heads, recycled polymers.
Tool-friendly geometry; minimal part count and finishes.
Premium feel within an accessible mid-market target.
Legible feedback and grip for younger and older hands.
Concept Development
Thinking with
the hand
Hundreds of sketches explored silhouette, balance point, and the relationship between the device and its dock. The aim was a form that reads as calm from across the room and precise in the hand.
Development Process
From three concepts
to one direction
Honest and compact — but charging and storage felt unresolved.
Soft and friendly, with a natural rest position — weak in precision.
Strong stance and dock integration; refined balance and CMF.
The wedge stance with the pebble's calm surface — resolved as SmileO.
CAD Development
Engineering the
calm surface
Surfacing, internal architecture, and sealing were developed in parallel so the exterior calm never compromised the waterproof, serviceable interior.
Prototyping & Testing
Made to be
held and broken
Hand-shaped foam models tuned silhouette, weight distribution, and the resting angle on the dock.
Printed grips tested under water with 8 users; texture and waist were adjusted for confidence in slippery conditions.
A full appearance prototype validated finish, the light-ring guidance, and dock interaction before final renders.
Final Outcome
Results
What the work
moved
Guidance that feels like calm company, not a notification — so the routine sticks.
A serviceable, repairable core extends product life and cuts waste per user.
The object and the ritual must be designed together — neither holds up alone.
Reflection
Designing the two minutes, not the device.
Anchoring every decision to the moment of use kept the project honest. The dock-first thinking became the spine of the whole system.
I started chasing features and ended subtracting them. The strongest version of SmileO. is the quietest one.
A deeper sustainability audit of the head cartridge and a companion app that stays ambient rather than demanding attention.
Prototyping early and often — and testing in the real, wet context — saved me from a beautiful object that wouldn't have survived a bathroom.