Rhianna Smith
BA Product Design
I am a versatile designer with an interest in exploring social issues. My process includes detailed research to understand behaviour and consumer interaction with a product. I'm inspired by creating functional, meaningful solutions that enhance the life of the user.
Balance
Balance is a contemporary office coat stand that welcomes you into work, lighting up as you hang up your coat. The project was a response to the increasing epidemic of loneliness exacerbated by remote and hybrid working caused by the pandemic. Research and office observations identified the importance of face-to-face human connection but a reluctance to return to empty offices. Balance announces your arrival in the office, with the stand getting brighter as each colleague hangs their coat. Balance emphasises the feeling of belonging, providing a counterbalance to the loneliness of remote working, illuminating the new era of hybrid working.
Fresh Steps
Fresh Steps' is an app for seniors to discover and book exercise classes in their local area. By creating a community around exercise for older generations, the app encourages everyone to try new activities and re-enter their fitness journey.
The design was created in response to a brief surrounding the impending health risks for seniors resulting from rising energy and living costs. Exercise is a free or low-cost preventative health tool that can be utilised at any age to keep us healthy for longer. However, research shows a decline in activity levels from the age of 65, when a healthy lifestyle is more important than ever.
The app works with local community centres, gyms and charities around the country who provide a range of different classes at all levels catered to those aged 65+. Fresh Steps is an engaging and representative platform which makes classes more accessible and creates a peer support network to motivate older adults to continue exercising.