Breath | My Site

Design Intent -

Guided Breathing + Sound

About ...

Breath is a bedside companion designed to make waking up feel gentle instead of abrupt.
Rather than relying on harsh alarms and bright screens, it uses gradual light, soft ambient sound, and guided breathing cues to ease the body from sleep into awareness.

The device blends into the bedroom environment, encourages consistent routines, and helps reduce the stress commonly associated with traditional alarms.

Waking up should feel calm, guided, and motivating, not stressful or rushed

Personal Motivation + Direction

Gentle Light Wake-Up

Timeline: 10–12 weeks Individual Project

Waking up feels more stressful than it should

Abrupt wake-ups lead to snoozing, grogginess, and delay by creating a cycle where people actually wake up later and feel worse.

Problem Discovered

Alarms are abrupt

Phones pull people into scrolling

People want calmer mornings

Mornings are hard for certain people

Traditional alarms wake you brutally. They succeed getting you up at the moment, but fail at helping you feel calm, intentional, and consistent overtime.

Create a wake-up system that replaces stress and distraction with gradual light, positive affirmation, and a reason to get out of bed.

Design opportunity

Students, young professionals, and phone-dependent users often struggle the most.
They go to sleep tired, wake up to alarms and notifications, and start the day already overwhelmed.

Who is affected?

72%

of U.S. adults struggle to wake up in the morning and feel overwhelmed

" I hate how harsh and stressful my alarm is. I just end up hitting snooze until I have rush again."

- User interview

Current solutions shock users awake. They focus on loud alerts, but don’t help build healthy habits.

• Noisy, jarring, disruptive alarms
• Instant notifications overwhelm already foggy minds

The key wasn’t adding complexity.
It was creating an intentional, gentle wake-up routine.

Users didn’t need more gadgets, They needed calmer mornings.

People who struggle with waking up didn’t want more apps or notifications, they wanted mornings that felt safer, slower, and intentional.

Traditional alarms ...

of people hit snooze 3+ times, feeling groggy and unprepared

A calm routine ...

Guiding them into normal rhythms at a gentler pace

What they really need ...

Calm, Intentional mornings ...

The Insight:

Mood Board

Form & Interaction Language

Soft, approachable geometry with hidden complexity

Material & Home Integration

Furniture-like tech that blends into the environment

Function Boundaries

Must-Have Features
1. Gentle light-based wake-up
2. Gentle sound support
3. Simple, physical interaction
4. USB-C charging
5. Small, bedroom-friendly form

Nice-to-Have
1. Ambient night-light
2. Card motivation system
3. App sync and data history
4. Modular replaceable parts

Ideations

Screen too big and become overwhelming

1

3

2 CAD Prototyping

Prototype 1 – Form exploration

Tall form with top light. The slot read as decoration instead of an interaction area.

Prototype 2 – Clarifying interaction

Shorter and clearer, but the slot and light competed visually.

Prototype 3 – Final direction
Integrated slot into the rim. The product now inserts cards naturally and sits calmly on the bedside.

Iteration clarified where interaction happens and how the object should live in the room.

Aesthetic Standards

• Soft, approachable geometry with no harsh edges
• Calm visual language with limited contrast
• Material breaks aligned directly with function
• Light integrated as part of the form, not decoration
• Minimal details to reduce visual noise
• Warm, practical proportions suitable for the bedroom

Product Design Language

• Calm, rounded forms
• Soft transitions and minimal details
• Clear hierarchy around interaction + light
• Honest materials and neutral tones
• Warm, quiet presence for the bedside