A device for students to store their phones in when studying
4 weeks
Team
Haiyeng - Project manager, UX designer, Researcher
Snigdha Jain - Coder, Documentarian
How might we help university students maintain their focus during study time by providing customizable and appealing solutions that reduce phone distractions?
The goal of the project is to address the problem of phone addiction and distractions among university students during their study time by allowing students to store their phones while they study, enabling them to focus on their academic tasks without being interrupted by notifications and distractions.
Struggle with putting their phones down and concentrating on their work
Tried setting time restrictions but failed
Users will use this “Cell phone jail” to restrict themselves from using their phones. In this case, the phone is seen as a criminal locked behind bars. Here the users will have to physically lock their devices in the cell.
This is another locking device that would allow users to place their devices or other items in it. It has a timer at the top and the box will unlock once the timer goes off. This lock box looks simple and ordinary, which doesn’t excite users to engage with it.
Yondr is a smartphone pouch that locks the phone inside and prevents its use during events. The phone can be unlocked by tapping it against an unlocking base station.
1. Focus Friend provides a unique solution by not only restricting access to the phone but also creating a positive experience for the user.
2. Focus Friend’s RFID and timer mechanism unlocks the device automatically unlike other locking devices that require manual unlocking.
We decided on a whale-shaped device, that features an RFID and LED timer mechanism, with a servo motor opening and closing the whale's mouth. The design aims to engage users and provide a positive experience.
We first edited the 3D printed file of the whale, then printed it. As the printing was going to take about 30 hours, we had to ensure that the size and design of the whale was right.
We then created the circuit and coded the project
Concept, cuteness, and mechanics
Users were unsure where to place the phone. They placed it on the mouth instead of inside of the whale
The whale's mouth was not strong enough to hold the weight of the phone
The whale was too small for today's phone
We were able to create an MVP of this device and was able to test it with our users. However, due to the weakness of the servo motor and lack of space in the whale, the whale's mouth could barely withstand the weight of the flip phone that was used.
Essembling the hardware to the whale
Replacing the hinge as it snapped several times
1. Print a larger whale to fit larger phones
2. Use a bigger servo motor and hinge
3. Add a shelf/compartment in the whale to store the phone