Contextual research project
10
Weeks
5
Designers
3
Research Methods
1800+
Data Points
Overview
72% of university students don't get enough sleep, and 63% feel exhausted even after sleeping. The problem isn't duration: it's that sleep has become a performance metric, a productivity trade-off, a problem to fix with data. Through three layered research methods and 1,800+ synthesized data points, we uncovered what students actually need and translated it into Sleep Teas.e: a ritual-based, non-tech product. No tracking. No optimization. No performance language.
Research
Sleep is not just an action: it's a process.
We structured the research around sleep as a multi-dimensional experience. Three methods layered on each other: observation captured behavior, interviews uncovered motivation, and a sensory cue workshop surfaced needs students couldn't articulate in conversation.
Observational Research
Interviews
Sensory Cue Workshop
Observational Research
Non-participatory observations in real sleep environments: bedrooms, dorms, shared spaces. Each session was documented with timestamped, coded notes.
What stood out:
Students had already built DIY workarounds. Mood lighting, caffeine rituals, temperature adjustments, phone-scrolling patterns, all intuitive, none structured.
Interviews
The "why" behind the routine.
Interviews moved past behavior into emotional territory: personal routines, stressors, ideal conditions, and the gap between what students wanted from sleep and what they experienced.
A recurring theme: sleep felt forced rather than felt.
I feel that sleep is directly tied to my productivity, and without a good night's sleep, I’d feel sluggish and unproductive during the day.
"On weekdays, I usually start getting ready to sleep by taking a shower and doing my skincare routine, though scrolling through TikTok or Instagram sometimes delays my bedtime."
"I would want a superpower that helps me fall asleep more easily and allows me to regulate my body temperature. It would give me control over my sleep whenever I need it."
Sensory Cue Workshop
Designing the ideal sleep experience, hands-on.
We built an immersive workshop inside a tent and ran three activities using physical stimuli to surface preferences words alone couldn't reach.
Activity A: Trigger & Response: Sensory mapping across auditory, tactile, and visual stimuli.
Activity B: Sensory Kit: Participants selected objects representing current vs. ideal sleep.
Activity C: Design Your Sleep Pod: Sketching ideal sleep environments from scratch.
Key Insights:
Students had "hidden innovations" they'd never articulated
Auditory cues were universal
Habits were invisible until prompted
Categories:
Nature
Companionship
De stressing
Weather
Dreams
Lighting
Health & sleep
Private space
Sleep schedule
Screen time
Environmental Control
Stress
Sleep tracking
Academic pressure
1800+
Data Points
185+
Wants and needs
55+
Themes
15
Categories
Affinity Mapping
Bottom-up synthesis across all three methods: digitally in Figma and physically on glass walls. Raw data became first-person statements, then themes, then categories.
Experience Framework
Defining what ideal sleep feels like.
Categories told us what mattered. To move toward design, we needed to define how sleep should feel across its full arc.
We adapted Lextant's experience framework methodology, mapping 11 experiential dimensions across three sleep phases (Pre-Sleep, During Sleep, Post Sleep), all radiating from one core feeling: "I Feel Nothing." Not numbness, but the state where body and mind fully let go.
Design Opportunity
Existing sleep solutions rely on technology or passive consumption. Students wanted something non-intrusive, ritual-based, and sensory, fitting naturally into routines without screens or active effort.
Opportunity: A product that treats sleep as a behavioral process, not a problem to medicate.
Sleep Teas.e is a structured ritual mapped to the sleep cycle. Four blends for different stages: winding down, falling asleep, deep rest, waking up. Each uses adaptogens and natural relaxants.
The product includes a Ritual Kit: journaling postcards, day organizers, curated playlists, stickers, and a routine builder, all grounded in the sensory and behavioral insights from the research.
In a nutshell
This project demonstrated how layered methods surface what no single approach can. Observation showed behavior, interviews explained motivation, the sensory workshop unlocked needs students didn't have words for.
Layered methods reveal what single approaches can't
Each method made the next one sharper: observation informed interview questions, interviews shaped workshop prompts
Frameworks turn insights into direction
The adapted Lextant framework gave our 15 categories a design language the product could be built on.
People need tools to show what they can't say
Physical stimuli and prompts surfaced "hidden innovations" that conversation alone never would have
Sleep is emotional, not functional
Treating sleep as an experience to design for, not a problem to solve, changed everything