An interactive product designed to enhance the crochet experience through a connected system that includes both a digital application and a physical tool.
Duration
2024, 20 Weeks
Individual Project
Project Type
UX/UI
End to End Design
Software
Figma
Rhinoceros
Arduino
Recently, crochet has become very popular among Gen Zs. Some people learn how to crochet to relieve anxiety, personalize gifts, and become more creative. On the other hand, some people love to buy crochet items made by professional crocheters either online or at art markets. From this crochet boom, professional crocheters have more work and need to find a more efficient way to complete their tasks.
So, as a crocheter myself, I wanted to explore how crochet, a traditional form of art, can be combined with current day technology. Ultimately creating a boost in precision and efficiency by removing all the unnecessary steps of constantly untangling yarn and repeatedly counting stitches and forgetting.
Our mission is to provide a friendly assister for professional crocheters so that they can keep track of all their crochet activities, save and create patterns, and reduce any tedious pauses while crocheting, resulting in a more entertaining and convenient experience.
According to a survey conducted by We Are Knitters, more than 45 million people know how to crochet or knit in the United States.
The Global Crochet Market was worth USD 1.68 billion in 2022, and is estimated to reach USD 2.2 billion in 2030 with a growth rate of 3.4%.
Two experienced crocheters were interviewed to gain deeper insights into user needs and common pain points in the crocheting process.
Yarn rolls away and gets tangled when crocheting
Get in control of the yarn while crocheting
Hard to notice the latest stitch completed on the pattern after some time
Accurately keep track of projects in progress, and activity history
Stitches are always counted incorrectly, making the crochet item imperfect
Follow along the pattern with correct stitch counts every time
Yarn Winder
The hand-operated yarn winder is easy to use and it helps the users to keep their yarn in a more organized way.
However, the spool needs to be turned manually by users and is not able to unwind the yarn while crocheting for full control.
Row Counter
The row or tally counter helps users to keep track of their rows and stitches while crocheting.
However, it still requires the users to press the button manually for it to update the count, so if the user forgets to press the button, the count would remain unchanged.
User Action
System Behavior
Pick up the wrist band from its position and put it on to start system
Light sensor beneath wrist band detects light and LED strip turns on
Naturally turn your wrist while crocheting to automatically unwind yarn from the spool
Motion sensor on wrist band will detect wrist movement, count up to 5 turns and activate the motor
Push button on wrist band to wind new yarn onto spool and turn potentiometer (dial) to change speed
Button on wrist band will change motor direction and potentiometer will adjust the motor’s speed
With the initial prototype, I tested the system with three crocheters and asked about their thoughts on each feature of the machine.
Including a light in the system could be nice, but it isn’t essential
Manually controlling the speed might cause yarn tangling while winding, so having a fixed, appropriate speed would work better
Since each stitch type requires a different amount of yarn, it would be more effective for the machine to unwind yarn based on stitch type rather than simply counting wrist turns
Displaying wrist turn counts is helpful, but it may be more useful if paired with stitch type information and a corresponding pattern
After several rounds of user testing, I redesigned the machine and rebuilt the system with updated controls and sensors better suited to its functions.
User Action
System Behavior
Gently press the button on the machine once to start the system
When pressed once, the button turns the system on
Put on the wristband and naturally turn your wrist while crocheting to unwind yarn from the spool
The tilt sensor in the wristband detects wrist movement and activates the motor to spin with the pattern
When little or no yarn remaining on the spool, push and hold the button to wind yarn onto it
The light sensor on the spool’s side detects light when no yarn is left, and the button activates the motor
Prototype Demo
Pattern Creating Application
This application is great for creating crochet patterns.
However, it is ultimately a pdf file, so it is hard to follow along while crocheting and users can easily get lost in the repetitive stitch symbols.
Snuggly helps professional crocheters to properly keep track of their crochet activities and smoothly complete their projects without any tedious pauses. We combined an organized application that tidily manages projects, accurately creates patterns, and concurrently follow along pattern instructions, with a connected product that automatically untangle yarn and conveniently count stitches, enhancing precision and efficiency for their crochet business. With Snuggly, crocheters can feel calmer and productive with a boost in creativity to design and make great products.
Gen Z Crochet Business Owner
Chloe is a crocheter who owns a small business. She sells her crochet items both online and offline by joining various art markets. Chloe is constantly overloaded with orders, which makes time management the key to her business’s success.
Projects
Conveniently shows the list of all saved projects and crocheters with the filter feature to allow users to quickly look through the list in four categories: all, my projects, favorites, and crocheters.
Create Your Pattern
Accurately entering in the settings before creating pattern will enhance precision of every stitch for the machine to calculate the motor’s turn and the amount of yarn remaining on the machine’s spool.
Create Your Pattern
Easily shows the different tools in three separate sections, types of stitches, other actions and yarn colors, to keep it simple and clear for the users.
Crochet
The wearable wrist-mounted stitch counter will calculate the stitches made by counting how many times the user turns their wrist. Then with the stitch calculated, the machine will unwind yarn accordingly so that the yarn won’t get tangled in between stitches.
Stitch Counter
Yarn Unwinder
Crochet
Coherently color codes the pattern stitches on screen according to the wrist band’s stitch counts so the users to follow along easily the pattern without any confusions.
Dashboard
Effectively shows an overview of the machine details, the user’s most recent projects in progress and overall crochet activity history.
Project Icons
Tool Bar Icons
Stitch Symbols
Buttons
Progress Bar
Navigation Bar
Calendar
Tool Bar
Search Bar
Instruction Bar
Design Elements
Yarn Remaining
Base Shapes
Machine Connectivity
Dashboard Page - 12 Column Grid
Projects Page - 5 Column Grid
Snuggly started as a simple prototyping project where my only goal was to successfully sense the user’s wrist motion and unwind the yarn with the collected data. However, in the process of researching, I have closely observed the whole experience of a crocheter including their posture and movement, especially in their wrist, for a more detailed analysis of the pain points, which allowed me to realize that there were so many more pain points in crocheting outside of the physical movements, so I decided to dig deeper to extend this project.
Overall, this project let me experience the process of designing an interactive product from research to physical prototyping, which I believe developed my skills in multiple areas as a UX/UI designer. Not only that, but I was also able to learn in the process of designing for a subject specific audience that it is extremely important to fully understand the audience’s deepest pain points and goals in order to successfully reach and attract my target audience, especially because the aimed market is already much smaller and limited.