Tea Break
a mindful moment
Seeking meaningful designs that address challenges faced by telecommuters who live in smaller homes
Working from home is often seen as a luxury, but 41% of “highly mobile” employees considered themselves highly stressed due to their work environment
How can we reduce stress for people who work from home?
For 6 weeks we explored a wide variety of design briefs on the topic of telecommuting. I explored many possibilities and found the problem I wanted to solve was reducing the stress that telecommuters often face.
In Search of Meaning
These were my top 3 concepts. After this stage I narrowed it down to my final concept, tea break; a mindful moment, because it felt the most in line with my problem statement, reducing stress for telecommuters.
Mindful Moment
Disconnecting from technology to reconnect with ones self. The user will write on the special tea paper with the safe ink pen. They are free to write whatever they please. The tea paper will then be used to make themselves tea. This practices the art of letting things go and helps the user focus on the present moment.
What are the attributes I want the tea set to evoke?
I did a mind mapping exercise on mindfulness to help me better understand the adjectives and attributes that I want my product to evoke.
How might the form of the tea set invite mindfulness?
Keeping It Connected
I continued to explore the perfect shape of the pot. I was focused on making sure the pot felt apart of the person. I did not want there to be any disconnect, so I was focused on making a pot that did not have a handle. This way the user is directly in the experience; hand to pot.
Slides In & Locks
I tested different mechanisms of the tea mat wrapping around the pot and the pen sliding in to lock the mat in place. I wanted it to be intuitive, but also wanted it to slow them down so that they would focus in on just that moment.
Finishing Touches
Making It
I 3D-printed the cup, pot, and pen then sanded and painted it to a matte finish.
For the tea mat I created the pattern, sewed all the pieces together, and then dyed the fabric with turmeric and chicory root.
For the tea paper I created a mixture of matcha powder, salt, and rice flour.
Behavior
Tea break creates a mindful moment for those who are stressed and over worked.
Cutting ties with the outside world allows us to recover from weekly stress and gives us space for other thoughts and ideas emerge.
Writing things down helps you recognize and process your emotions.
