Easybottle: A study of metaphor in interaction design

Han, Jeemin

Lately, various kinds of intelligent products have been invented, and to play a part in the “intelligent” era, I designed an intelligent nursing bottle which can help a user when making up a bottle for a baby in middle of the night. The intelligent nursing bottle, Easybottle is a behaviour induce interaction product, which means that it motivates a user to do something with pleasure. As a mother of one year old, I learned that it is very important for a caregiver to feel satisfied in order to nurse a baby from the heart. Easybottle provides sound modality to notify the caregiver how much water she should pour when mixing powdered formula with water so she does not need to feel agitated to read bottle markings in middle of the night when her eyes are not fully awake.

The methodology that I applied is metaphor. As metaphors, I chose two different sounds to compare; sound of water pouring and sound of a car’s proximity sensor. The main goal was to define more useful interface for Easybottle.

I conducted quantitative within-participants experiment. This study explored whether lifelike sound works better or artificial sound works better as an indication interface. Participants evaluated the water pouring sound interface more positively than a car’s proximity sensor sound interface. Lifelike and hedonic factor appeared to be attractive to the participants and it implies that even though Easybottle is an electronic product, participants appreciate more when it reminds them of nature. Also, entertainment factor is important when doing a chore.

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