Root

10 weeks

Individual

Electric hygiene products enhance daily routines, yet their resource-heavy batteries degrade quickly. Like power tools for the home, this collection of tools shares a battery to extend lifespan.

The themes of this design revolve around rethinking products with resource-heavy materials and challenging traditional product lifecycles. I focused on the experience of repair and disassembly, making components easier to access, fix, or replace to reduce waste.

Electric Toothbrush and Foil Shaver

One battery shared.

A shared battery system utilizing a press-release mechanism enables a battery to be used across multiple hygiene tools.

Unlike electric products with built-in rechargeable batteries, this allows for easy replacement once the battery reaches end of life. This reduces the need for individually powered devices, minimizing environmental impact.

Electric Toothbrush & Foil Shaver

Trays provide flexible placement to accommodate living space and personal habits.

A meaningful ritual that emphasizes ownership and intentional care.

Interchangeable attachment head to accommodate various hair removal needs. Attachments can include a smaller-sized trimmer and an epilator head.

The foil holder is designed for easy foil replacement, eliminating the need for destructive measures

Process

Many small scale electronics are not designed to come apart and when their batteries reach end-of-life, the product also reaches end of life.

This all started with my experience using both safety razors and electric razors. The contrast between the raw, simple process of maintaining a safety razor and the concealed temporary feel of an electric razor stood out to me.

Why does the introduction of batteries change the experience?

Dissassembling an existing product allowed me to learn about the basic components and gain insight on what can be improved.

Learning About Electric Shavers

The Power Tools of the Home

I drew inspiration from power tools and the way a single battery can power multiple tools within a product line.

Viewing the device as as three components combined: Attachment, Body, and Battery.

Designed to come apart. Designed to last.

Index