Roll-Reminder
Never be caught in an uncomfortable situation again!
Design Brief
Design an interactive artefact for the home that uses minimal technology to enhance or add meaning to an everyday activity or experience.
Duration
4 weeks
Role
Lead UI & UX Designer
Context
Roll-Reminder
A smart toilet roll holder concept that detects when the paper has run out, gently shaking to remind the next person who enters the bathroom to replace it. It uses a colour sensor to recognise an empty roll, and a motorised rectangular bar creates subtle movement to catch attention without being intrusive.
Testing and Prototyping
Arduino
The mechanical framework of our project was made using Arduino components, we assembled and programmed it to achieve our working prototype. Through systematic trial and error, we fine-tuned the mechanics to ensure seamless operation.
Solution
An Automated Toilet Roll Holder
Detects empty rolls and reminds people to replace them before or after they go.
Impact
Roll Reminder helps reduce household friction, turning a small but common annoyance into an opportunity for playful design that builds better habits.
1
Prevents inconvenience
2
Reduces household tension
3
Encourages better habits
4
Playful reminder through design
But... How Did We Get Here?
When my team and I received the brief “Design an interactive artefact for the home that uses minimal technology to enhance or add meaning to an everyday activity or experience” we knew we wanted to create something that would turn a mundane everyday task into something fun and interactive.
Design Prompt
How might we encourage people to replace toilet roll when the roll is empty?
Research and Discovery
What Bad Habits Around The Home Can We Try Break?
We started the project by brainstorming potential signals to base our concept on.
To explore this, we conducted observations and interviews to identify common bad habits around the home. We aimed for a large and diverse pool of participants, gathering insights in person, over FaceTime, and via text.
We put all our research together in a mind map to visualize it. From this point we did secondary research and created How might we statements. From this we decided to focus on interventions in the bathroom.
Testing and Prototyping
Further Prototyping
We wanted our design to look
Playful
Friendly
Unobtrusive
We also wanted to ensure that the placement of the sensors wasn’t just an afterthought, so we decided to turn the holder into a fun character, as the sensors resemble eyes. Another consideration was leaving enough space inside to house the Arduino boards, sensors, motors, and batteries.
Fiona is going to the bathroom.
She realizes there's no toilet paper when its too late.
No one has replaced the spare rolls either.
She has to call someone to pring her toilet paper.
Chosen Concept
Chosen Moment of Intervention
We decided on this moment of intervention because it’s a common problem and leaves people uncomfortable and in some scenarios humiliated.
Testing and Prototyping
CAD Modelling and 3D Printing
We wanted the toilet roll holder bar to connect seamlessly to the motor. To achieve this, we created 3D models in CAD and then 3D-printed them. After four iterations, we selected the best design and spray-painted it so that it would integrate smoothly with the body of the holder
Assemblage
Building The Body
To build the body, we first carved the form out of foam. We then vacuum-formed it using PETG and spray-painted it for a finished look. Additionally, we created brackets to securely hold the hardware inside.
Problem
People Forget to Re-fill Toilet Paper
One of the most common (and frustrating) bathroom habits is people forgetting to replace the toilet paper roll once it’s finished. This small act of neglect leaves the next person stuck in an inconvenient situation and often sparks irritation in shared households.
Finished Product
Learnings
1/Draught angle
Unfortunately, the foam cast didn’t have enough of an angle and became stuck in the mould. As a result, we had to apply the paint to the outside of the PVC rather than the inside, which affected the finish. Given more time, we would have attempted a second cast to achieve the desired finish.
Testing and Prototyping
Rapid Idea Generation
Once we knew what we were designing for we started exploring the possibilities of what toilet rolls can do and how we could alert people to the fact it’s empty. We started making quick prototypes exploring motion, sound and colour.
Idea Generation
Proposed Concept
The concept we chose is a smart toilet roll holder that detects when the paper runs out and subtly shakes to remind the next person approaching the toilet. It uses a colour sensor to identify an empty roll, and the rectangular bar that holds the roll is attached to a motor, creating gentle movement without being intrusive.
