Process

High-end

Multi-valve

Temperature control

Consists of handheld wand and wall-mounted module

Wand weight is approx. 0.75 lb

Digital display should show setting such as temperature, water flow volume, valves, etc.

Wall-mounted module not to exceed approx. 4x4x2 in

Physical affordances and controls must be easy to use with low visibility and dexterity

I started by sketching a design similar to what is currently on the market, including the required specs and thinking about what else might be included. The first iteration had two knobs, one for temperature and one for pressure, a volume slider, four valve option buttons, a button to play music, and a small display screen all within a vertical rectangular unit.

The second iteration changed orientation of the unit, reduced the knob count to one with the display screen inlaid in the top of the knob, and edited the ‘music’ button to a power symbol. I liked the direction this was going, but the buttons on the side of the design felt disconnected.

From here, I pulled everything together in a circular design with the buttons around the center pressure and temperature/display knob. I dropped the valve for a tub and added ‘preset’ and ‘mode’ options. The idea behind preset is that the user could set preferences in an app prior to use. Mode is the specific sprayer settings like rain, spa, and massage.

To address lowered dexterity and low visibility, I incorporated several elements:

ridges along the outer edge of the knob where a user would grip and turn

the largest possible display screen while leaving the buttons large enough to be visible and easily pressed

(hopefully–requires user testing to state this without caveat) recognizable iconography to represent elements of affordance

The shower wand is a simple cylindrical shape with two sets of buttons: temperature indicated by color, and pressure indicated by arrows. The placement of the buttons were determined based on where my hand naturally landed. The pressure was closer to this natural landing spot and temperature control above. I figured an accidental change in pressure was much more preferable to an accidental change in temperature.

The prototype mainly utilizes foam-core board and thick paper. To determine the size of the shower wand, the paper was cut in various sizes and rolled into a tube shape that tapers into a semicircle-like shape at the base. I found this shape to fit the hand a bit better and make gripping easier. The buttons for the wand are made from the foam-core board and are static.

The wall module is made entirely of foam-core board and pipe cleaners. The back side of the top (square) layer has circular recesses to allow for coiled pipe cleaner to collapse fully making a button the feels functional. The knob is attached with a screw to allow for rotational movement.

Valuable information was gained during the two user feedback sessions completed. The first user found the volume and pressure indication being on the same scale confusing. After hearing their suggestions for ways to make it less so, I determined that this would be a specific dimension to be prototyped in a higher-fidelity so that the UI would accurately portray the interaction–it is difficult with a paper screen prototype to give a user a sense of the nuances of interactions intended.

The first user also found the temperature scale, specifically the fact that two blue notches were showing along with red, confusing. There were no indications of the second user having an issue or lack of understanding in this regard.

The knob being used for pressure and temperature on the wall module was determined to have a steeper learning curve. For testing with the second user, this feature was detailed and they found it intuitive.

The second user had an interesting notion of the button with blue on the handheld wand being the starting point for water flow. From there, when asked to increase the temperature, the pressure arrows were used. One bit of feedback from the first user was that the blue hue used (did not print as it appeared onscreen) looked purple and made them second guess its functionality. This seemed to also be the case with the second user-tester.

With the feedback received, I would play around with the way the display screen indicated temperature, pressure, and volume; perhaps use words vs symbols for the preset and mode buttons; and adjust the hue selection for temperature indication.