NAPZ was a collaborative startup project developed at DTU.
Our team explored how product design and technology could create a comforting experience for infants. The work brought together user research, physical prototyping and entrepreneurship.
Engineering & Innovation08 / 08
DTU · University startup project
NAPZ
Comfort Through Design
A familiar sound.
A comforting concept.
Exploring emotional comfort for infants through user-centered product development, a soft toy and recorded heartbeat sounds.
Explore the project ↓- Period
- During my studies at DTU
- My role
- Team member
Collaborative product development - Tools & methods
- User research · Prototyping
Iterative development - Context
- University startup project
Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
01 / Overview
Comfort through
product design.
02 / The challenge & product concept
A soft toy.
A familiar heartbeat.
The concept combined a customizable soft toy with a heart-shaped device capable of playing a recording of the mother’s heartbeat. Familiar sound was central to the intended experience of emotional comfort.
Our challenge was to translate that intention into a physical product concept shaped by the needs of new parents.
The project explored a comfort concept; it did not establish clinical sleep or health benefits.
03 / User research
Start with
parents’ needs.
Our team conducted user research and gathered feedback from new parents to understand their needs and inform the product concept.
Those perspectives guided the development process, connecting the intended emotional experience with the decisions made during prototyping.
04 / Prototype development
Make, learn
and refine.
We developed prototypes and refined the concept through iterative feedback from new parents. The work connected user needs with the development of a customizable soft toy and its heartbeat device.
The research, prototypes and iterations described here were team work. My experience came from participating in this collaborative product development process.
05 / Recognition
Recognition &
Achievements
Our team was recognized as a Top 3 Team — Fra Idé til Checkout (FITC), 2023. The trophy photograph above documents this recognition.
Separately, the team received a Letter of Support from BabySam.
- Top 3 TeamFra Idé til Checkout (FITC) · 2023
- Letter of SupportBabySam
06 / Key learning
From user needs
to a product concept.
As a member of the team, I gained experience in user-centered product development, prototyping, entrepreneurship and presenting a product concept to external stakeholders.
NAPZ gave me practice developing an idea collaboratively and using feedback to move it forward.
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