Understand

Empathize

As students at a large university, the design team members often heard stories and unfortunately knew of peers who experienced being drugged on campus. To increase our peers’ safety, the team wanted to develop a device that gave individuals the freedom to attend social events with less worry.

Define

Research suggested that thousands of college students are affected each year by drink tampering. Such data was confirmed by anecdotal knowledge of the design
team. The team committed to creating a device to detect Rohypnol, GHB, and Ketamine in drinks.

Learned:

I learned that drink tampering is widespread at social events, especially on college campuses. I came to appreciate the seriousness of the problem and the need for a device to counter drink tampering.

Explore

Ideation

Our ideation process started with each team member brainstorming 20+ ideas for IoT products. We individually brainstormed roughly 10 ideas from thinking about IoT through our day-to-day experiences and observing those around us. Our next 10 ideas were inspired by an instructor-created Mural board, which listed industries and corresponding IoT innovations. After individually brainstorming, our team had approximately 80 product concepts. We then went through a selection process:

• Compiled the concepts into a Google Doc.
• Individually highlighted our favorite concepts.
• Copied our favorite ideas into Mural as sticky notes.
• Conducted a voting session.

Diary Study

The team conducted a study for feedback on the design of the device (a drinking straw) and the viability of a smartwatch for communicating drink tampering. For our diary study, we recruited peers that had access to an Apple Watch and were 21 years or older. We had peers inform us during the week when they planned to go out with friends for social events, where drinking was involved.

We prepped our peers with a study brief and gave them instructions on what to expect throughout the night. This included informing participants to wear a fully charged smartwatch, bring a drinking straw (of any kind), and respond to texts from us through the night when they noticed vibration from their watches.

During participant’s night out we sent texts around hourly increments to see if participants noticed a vibration in their smartwatches. The following morning we sent participants a follow-up survey to fill out, which included questions about their experience using the straw and awareness levels.

Learned

I feel that I already knew the benefits of brainstorming. Nevertheless, experiencing a brainstorming process with a team was enlightening. Brainstorming by theme opened possibilities and added ideas to explore. Likewise, the diary study results indicated limitations:

• Some participants did not notice vibration alerts on their smartwatches.
• Vibration alerts did not correspond to the number of drinks consumed.
• Users felt uncomfortable carrying the straw to bars. The straw did not fit in some purses.
• As participants frequently traveled to different bars throughout the night, they became concerned about sanitary issues transporting the device from bar to bar.
• Type of drink needs to be considered when designing the device.
• Straws are not typically used when drinking beer.

Prototype

StaySafe is a portable and reusable roofie-detecting device with the purpose to keep users safe on their nights out. The StaySafe prototype evolved from a straw to a sensor that is dropped in a drink. StaySafe is meant to be kept in and transferred to drinks throughout the night where it will be constantly monitoring the drink for safety, without a used having to proactively test it.

The Device

The sensor device is held in a discreet keychain case that makes for easy transport and sanitary storage. An alert using simple red & green LEDs indicates safety. The device is also paired to a smartphone app where users receive onboarding directions and status notifications. The notifications have two purposes, (1) as reminders for use with location-sensing technology and (2) the second form of alert with the LEDs for users to have as a backup.

Learned

The team learned that the original design (straw) was not the best medium for a roofie tester and that smartwatches were not the optimal communication device. Testers provided more positive feedback to the sensor prototype.

Materialize

Test

The team employed User Enactments Overviews to simulate users’ interaction with the lo-fi prototype. Users participated in six scenarios to test how they interact with the prototype: a birthday celebration and at a bar, among others. The team also used a speed dating matrix to determine the complexity level of the device and how the device would be used in various scenarios.

Learned

The team learned that participants were confused on how to insert the device into the drink and how long to keep the device in the drink. Users wanted to dispose of the device after one use. Interestingly, users looked at the light on the device case before the phone notification.

Future

There is a need for a device that detects tampered drinks. In fact, similar products have been proposed and failed for various reasons. Technology needs to be
improved for such a device to be marketable. Still, I would expect to see a similar product on Shark Tank one day.

Learned

I learned to take seriously the pain points and design opportunities with this project. Users expressed concern about keeping devices clean and sanitary while transporting them. Designers should have considered the types of drinks – beer, cocktails, soda, wine – and the types of drink containers –beer bottles, cans, glasses. The design team needed to think about the size of the device – compact and discrete – and its portability of the device.

Conclusion

Today may not be the right time and Ann Arbor may not be the right place, but – at some point in the future – the technology will be available to make the use of a StaySafe product widespread. As an inventor and entrepreneur, I found this experience to be fun, educational, and exciting. I enjoyed creating a working physical prototype, collaborating with a team, and developing a solution that would have a positive impact.