U by Moen
A digital interface for the first IoT-connected shower
Blink UX, Moen
The Ask
Design the visual language for a first-of-its-kind connected shower interface.
My Role
Freelance User Experience Designer
Visual Design, Typography, Information Design, Concepting
Results
• Concept work directly shaped the final shipped product • U by Moen won multiple design awards and was featured at CES 2017
The Ask
In 2015, I joined Blink UX as a temp freelancer on their partnership with Moen, which had the technology in place to make the first IoT-connected shower a reality. The goal: design an experience that empowers and delights customers through their daily shower routine.
My Role
I was the sole UX designer on the visual execution, working alongside one design lead and several team members in management roles. Research, strategy, and usability testing had already shaped the underlying user experience and customer experience foundations by the time I joined, so my focus narrowed specifically to the visual language and aesthetics of the in-shower unit's digital screens.
The Approach
I began with mood-boarding, exploring a range of conceptual themes and visual styles to establish the right tone for a premium, in-shower digital interface. From there, I dug deeper into typography and infographic approaches, testing how information could be displayed clearly and beautifully on a small screen. Through several rounds of feedback, critique, and team alignment, I narrowed the exploration down to three refined concepts, which went thru several rounds of review with Moen.
Challenges
The interface had to be legible and intuitive inside a wet, steamy, and inherently distracting environment, which put a premium on clarity over decoration. A significant design question centered on how to visualize elapsed time, weighing a straightforward, infographic-style approach against a more metaphorical one. These trade-offs generated substantial internal discussion before converging on a direction.
Outcome
My contract wrapped before Moen made a final directional decision, but my concept work directly shaped the approved designs that shipped in the final product. In the following months and years, U by Moen went on to win multiple design awards and became a standout product at CES 2017.
Takeaways
This was one of my first opportunities to design for a physical luxury product interface, and it gave me a strong appreciation for the discipline of simple, modern infographic design under real physical constraints.
