SIP N' SENSE
Health tech · Multi-sensory design · Accessibility
SIP N' SENSE
MY ROLE
Product Designer
TEAM
Journey Brown-Saintel, Jackie Nam
TECHNOLOGIES
Figma, Arduino
TIMELINE
September 2025 – October 2025
LIQUID TRACKER
A hydration responsive system that measures liquid intake and communicates it through haptics, sound, and light.
CONTEXT
Most hydration tools use the same metrics to track liquid intake via visual interface.
CHALLENGE
Drinking water is one of the most intuitive acts, driven by bodily response, yet the tools designed around it aren't seamless. Tracking fluid intake meant stopping, logging, and remembering; three things people consistently don't do.
SOLUTION
A hydration responsive system that measures liquid intake and communicates it through haptics, sound, and light.
The Landscape
BUSINESS GAP
Currently, most hydration-tracking products (e.g. bottles & apps):
- Require manual logging or syncing with external apps/devices.
- Rely solely on visual interfaces and are often just for water (e.g., phone screens, LED bottles).
- Fail to provide multi-sensory, real-time feedback that integrates naturally into the act of drinking.
USER PROBLEM
Health-conscious individuals struggle to:
- Accurately monitor fluid(s) intake throughout the day.
- Stay consistent with hydration or dietary goals because tracking is often inconvenient.
- Access real-time, embodied feedback that's both subtle and intuitive.
Problem Statement
How can we leverage senses beyond vision to gain information about liquid consumption while providing a feedback system that enables better tracking without distracting from the drinking experience?
Understanding behaviors
We wanted to know whether people could track consumption more accurately if the feedback came to them: not through a screen, but through their body. We ran usability tests across three sensory modalities: haptic, light, and audio, asking participants to drink what they estimated to be 2oz of water while we observed how each feedback type affected accuracy and experience.
Key findings
Haptics won by far, but not because it was the most informative. It won because it was the most forgettable in the best way. They could drink intuitively until told otherwise without additional cognitive load. Users described buzzing feedback as "subtle", "private", and "non-disruptive". Light, by contrast, felt intrusive and hard to interpret outside of controlled settings. The insight: the best feedback is the kind that doesn't make you feel watched.
Early directions
Early concepts leaned into familiar drinking utensils re-imagined: responsive straws, sensor-lined cups, LED interfaces. They were interesting as objects but they all shared the same flaw: they required the user to adapt to the product rather than the other way around.
The shift
Early prototyping and material research pushed us back to the bottle: the container people already use, already trust, already carry. The question shifted from "what new object can we introduce" to "how do we make the object already in someone's hand smarter and more responsive."
Design
The final design layered haptic, audio, tactile, and visual feedback into a bottle-based system, built on an Arduino prototype. A digital interface handled data tracking while a tactile interface ensured the experience remained accessible to users who couldn't rely on sight alone. Accessibility wasn't a feature added at the end: it was part of the brief from the start.
Impact
By centering haptic-first design and accessibility from the outset, we built multisensory feedback into the system rather than treating it as an afterthought. Testing with Georgina Kleege and Sugandha Gupta, leading voices in sensory design and accessibility, helped validate that layered sensory feedback could support users across a wide spectrum of needs. This shaped the system in 4 key ways:
Accessible & Inclusive Hydration Tracking
Uses haptic, auditory, and visual feedback to support a wider range of sensory needs and preferences, reducing reliance on vision-based interfaces.
Reduced Tracking Burden Through a Unified System
Combines hydration, sugary beverage consumption, and alcohol tracking into a single experience, eliminating the need to monitor habits across multiple apps or devices.
Seamless Integration Without Disrupting Daily Life
Features a portable sensor that can move between bottles, cups, and glasses, allowing consistent tracking while using preferred drinkware in any social setting.
Less Screen Time, More Awareness
Incorporates a tabletop interface and ambient feedback to reduce dependence on phones and screens, helping users stay present while developing healthier habits.
Reflection and Future
Prioritize Portable Integration Earlier
I would have pushed earlier on the idea of a portable, transferable sensor rather than exploring more restrictive form factors. A significant portion of our early ideation focused on standalone objects we ultimately abandoned. Starting with the constraint of fitting into existing drinking behaviors, and treating it as an opportunity, would have helped us arrive at stronger concepts faster.
Extend Haptic Feedback to Existing Wearables
Future iterations could explore integrating haptic feedback with existing devices such as smartwatches. Leveraging technology users already wear would create a more seamless experience, reduce additional hardware, and make hydration prompts easier to receive throughout the day.
Simplify the System Around a Single Core Experience
While the prototype explored multiple touchpoints, future development should focus on a more cohesive and streamlined system. Narrowing to a single primary interaction would reduce complexity, strengthen usability, and make the product easier to understand and adopt in everyday life.