A toiletries kit for home and travel use. Roam balances the aspects of versatility, convenience and comfort in order to create a simple solution to a common issue. Its material applications allow for a beautiful product which fits in any bathroom, while it's adaptability allows for it to fit in any travel pack.
For most households, clutter can be found in multiple places and be made up of a collection of items. However, bathroom clutter seems to be the most common offender. Weather it's one person or multiple, bathroom cabinets attract clutter. Because of this issue, we also have trouble traveling with our toiletries in an organized manner. Having made these observations I set out to create Roam, a unique solution to declutter the bathroom and provide the user ease of mind when it comes to their toiletries.
Age: 52
Location: Toronto
Occupation: Client Relations
Travel: Twice a month
Bio
Bruce is an established professional who spends most of his time in business meetings and taking clients out on the town. He is interested in male fashion and prides himself on looking sharp at all times. Although he has an arsenal of grooming tools at his house, sometimes he has weekend business trips where he cant take his entire collection.
For Roam, the concept development phase was unique in that I was able to source ideas no only from my research but also from my personal experiences. I was initially inspired by roll-up pencil cases which I incorporated into the canvas portion of the final design. Important considerations included a hanging mechanism, lightweight for travel purposes and of course multiple storage options.
Roam can be mounted to any flat surface using the magnetic properties of it's frame. A minimal iron plate can be permanently installed on the wall in order for the frame to attach. The magnetic attachment permits the user to quickly de-attach if they are on the go.
Once Roam has been installed on a wall, the pull cords can be pulled into place. These will lift the bottom frame to a 90 degree angle, enabling it to be used as a shelf.
In order to travel with the Roam bathroom organizer, it needed to be lightweight and compact. In order to achieve this I created a collapsible deign. A two piece fold allowed for the items to be in an enclosed storage position without being crushed.
Due to the frequent use of water in the bathroom, it is often a place of moisture and bacteria growth. In order to avoid any grime buildup, the canvas section can be detached and hand-washed. The wood frames can also be wiped down.
A quick and easy user experience meant the most used tools needed to be readily available. For this reason, the frames contain magnets which allow the user to hang tools for quick use. The magnets also act as a locking mechanism when Roam is folded so that everything is kept secure
A big takeaway from the Roam project was the importance of user testing. It came to my attention that although I had conducted prior user testing on low fidelity mock ups, it would have been beneficial to continue on with the testing after I had created my final model. Extended testing would allow me to further improve on issues which only arose with the final product.
After having gone through the research process and refining my design using paper and cardboard mock-ups I was tasked with making a final model. This was particularly difficult because the majority of the product was made out of waxed canvas which had to be sewn together. This project was my first time using a sewing machine and so it taught me the importance of planning sewing patterns and the many challenges that fabric can create.
