Brio
Brio is an award winning electrostatic air purifier for the home that removes airborne viruses, smoke, pollen, dust and bacteria from the air we breathe.
Smarter indoor air
Agentis Air was founded as a startup from the University of Washington with the goal of commercializing electrostatic air purification as a more efficient solution to the ubiquitous HEPA filters. They approached Product Creation Studio to help translate their patented technology into a package that is simple to operate and has a modern aesthetic fit for a home or office environment.
Below is a high level representation of the technology the Agentis Air team developed and how it compares to the conventional HEPA filter. An electrostatic filter allows nearly 100% airflow through the entire life of the filter because the technology is designed to grab particles from the air rather than obstruct them like a HEPA filter, which would ultimately lead to clogging and diminished airflow.
Electrostatic Air Purification
HEPA
Discovery
Word mapping and client activities
Before creating any concepts, we set the framework for the development by establishing the placement of the product in the market place. While collaborating with the client, we jot down every type of user, environment the product can live in, ways the product can be interacted with and other types of products that may have a symbiotic relationship within the home. This collection of information can be distilled down into feature lists, usability concerns and even style guides.
Mood boards
Using words generated in the previous exercise, we created tailored mood boards to help us visualize a variety of design languages that will inform our design moving forward. The contemporary mood board was chosen by our client because it showcases modern form factors, diverse color/material/finishes and fits
Design Spectrum
To close out this exercise, I combine the words and images into a spectrum to help establish a common language with the client who may not have the terms to describe what exactly they want. I show them a group of images unrelated to their product and how they fit within a spectrum, then do the same thing with competitor products. From there we can place the locations of the mood boards and further pinpoint where they envision their product living. From here we have a clearly defined pathway to start generating concepts.
Concept Generation
Sketch Process
With the general component list developed at this point, we still had influence how the orientation and position of those components impact both form and usability. Using the results of the previous exercises, I was able to confidently begin sketching concepts that meet the visual criteria the client was looking for while injecting some thought into core functionality. Starting with thumbnails to quickly generate ideas around form, the promising directions get further refinement with loose architecture and usability. We then present to the clients and pare down to two directions to expand. In this case, concepts 1, 4 and 8 were chosen for their versatility, simplicity and divergent orientations.
Refinement
The concepts were simplistic enough from a ten foot view to move quickly in both physical models and CAD to quickly explore variations on volume, proportions, materials and textures. As I expanded on the three directions pieces of the final design began to materialize. Examining eight more concepts, the client made a choice to dive into their two favorites, citing innovative airflow, feasibility and a modern take on familiar forms in the market.
Final Refinement
In the final round of concept development we focused on combining key elements from the two leading concepts, the more practical form, proportions and interaction of 1b with the innovative air flow and modern aesthetic of concept 4c.
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Concept to Reality
Development Phase
Upon landing on the final direction, we dive into the usability and design of the internal components, the user interface and refine the concept for DFM. Click on the images below for a description of each process.
To test the handle, I printed and tested multiple depths and angles with the approximate weight of the product to determined the best balance of protrusion to usability.
The diagonal slatted vent was chosen for its simplicity and modern aesthetic and also lends itself to a visually compelling, asymmetric user interface
We chose a back printed acrylic overlay because it balanced manufacturing simplicity with a crisp aesthetic and straightforward usability.
By sinking the LED interface below the final vent, it enabled the display to be completely hidden until the user is over top of the product, keeping it minimally invasive in dark rooms. Here I am testing the ability to detect the subtle reflections of of the LEDs.
To test the usability of the removable filter box, I constructed and weighted a mock up box and tested the placement, removal and transport with multiple users.
Final Prototype
Upon incorporating the usability and user interface details into the model, we set out to make a working prototype with preliminary DFM that our client could use for testing and as a guideline for moving to manufacturing.
Project Closeout
After delivering the prototype to the client we closed out the project by generating high quality renderings of the product to show off an updated CMF, internal components and contextual images in real life environments.
![20211109_Agentis_Exploded Rendering[transparent].png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/635051eea6455b21d5206d72/e49816ff-0a07-42c7-9fae-69c934106331/20211109_Agentis_Exploded+Rendering%5Btransparent%5D.png)
Epilogue
A year after we delivered our prototype and renderings, the Brio air purifier was released on the market. Before launch, I was directly helping the client evaluate first article parts, fine tune the CMF of the plastics and assist them with marketing images and copy. For our efforts in developing this groundbreaking piece of technology and design, we were awarded a Bronze IDEA award.
