Laasya Bosukonda       

 

Work  


Aria

 
Problem: 
Traditional birth control packaging is bulky, conspicuous, and often carries a negative emotional impact for users.

Solution: 
A two-approach project: 
One for compact, discreet pill dispensing, and another for supporting users with the emotional side effects.


Skills

Industrial design, Protoyping, CAD, User-research


Timeline

8 weeks - Spring 2025


Materials

Grey foam, 3D printing filament

Tools

Solidworks, Keyshot, Photoshop, 3D printer, Figma  




High-tech


A modular, wall-mounted device that functions as both a pill dispenser and an emotional tracker.

Low-tech


 A discreet, compact dispenser that tracks daily pills and simplifies intake with a single sliding motion.



High-tech


Focusing on the social and emotional side of birth control, this system simplifies pill-taking while fostering support and connection.


Personal


An intuitive, calendar-based system that streamlines pill-taking while raising awareness of your own feelings, helping you process them and connect them to the mood changes caused by birth control.

Social


Encourages subtle connection with housemates, fostering a supportive environment that helps users feel seen, supported, and less alone in their daily routine.

How-To-Use


Users log emotions with pill-taking or period tracking, using colored lights to create a shared emotional presence in the home.




Low-tech


Focusing on stigma and packaging that aims to provide a more discreet and empowering experience for pill taking in social environments.


Dispense


A seamless interaction that effortlessly tracks and dispenses your pill in a single, smooth motion. 

The pills remain discreetly hidden within the dispenser, allowing you to retrieve one without revealing the rest.


Transfer


The second funnel device enables you to effortlessly transfer pills from the current blister pack into the designated tubes required for Aria.

Mechanism


A simple spring-based mechanism that dispenses one pill at a time with ease.

How-To-Use


  1. Open – Pull off the top of Aria and remove the dispensing tube
  2. Attach – Secure the tube onto the funnel
  3. Load – Slide your blister pack into the funnel
  4. Dispense – Press down to release pills 
  5. Store – Place the tube back into Aria
  6. Close – Secure the top back onto Aria
  7. Repeat – Use as needed



Visual System


The design system features the classic days of the week, along with dots representing weeks 1–4. 

For those starting the pill midweek, a customizable sticker can be placed over the days to maintain accurate tracking.



Process


Problem Space

Many prescription medications, including birth control, need to be taken at the same time every day. But what happens when you find yourself in a public setting and need to take your medication around others? I want to know if the act of taking medication in public can be uncomfortable, and what concerns people may have about privacy or stigma. 

I hope to explore people's experiences of taking their medications in public by understanding how they feel about it, whether they experience any stigma, and how we might design packaging that provides a more discreet and empowering experience for pill-taking in social environments.




Concept Maps

Mapping out access and use of birth control in public and private settings.

Interviews

Conducting conversational-style interviews with 8 diverse individuals to gather valuable insights.

Users
Birth control pill users
Prescription medication users

Professionals
Nurses
Healthcare 
University health promotions
Peer health advocacy groups


Key Insights


The research can be divided into six main categories. 

Low-tech focuses on: 

Scheduling

Stigma

Access

High-tech focuses on: 

Emotions

Social

Access




“The minute you pull out a blister pack of little round pills, people know exactly what it is.”“The sex health vending machines are so important because they create privacy around health, and they’re easily accessible as well.”“I just need a reminder that I might be PMSing because I’m like why am I feeling so horribly.”





Generative Research

Examining the ecosystem of everyday items people carry to understand how a pill pack might seamlessly integrate into their routines. 

I invited individuals to share the contents of their daily bags, along with the emotions and associations they have with each item.





Key Insights

People are ashamed of
  • Drugs (Nicotine)
  • Menstrual products
  • Safe sex supplies
  • Trash

People are empowered by
  • Books
  • Color coded objects
  • Sentimental objects - toys, keychains, stickers
  • Functional objects that have cool packaging
“It’s not even shame, it is just a sense of discomfort.”

“Why do I am want them knowing that about me.”

“This is something that is private to me and my body.”

“I am often impacted by recognizable packaging and associations with those products.”





Initial Sketches

Low-tech

Exploring ideas that preserve the form of the blister pack but also pushing further to imagine new possibilities beyond its traditional shape.


Key Considerations:

Discrete

Accessible

Calendarized 

High-tech

Exploring ideas that are repeatable, while supporting both pill dispensing and touch-screen interaction.


Key Considerations:

Modular

Interactive

Accessible




Physical Prototyping

Key Considerations:

Sizing and proportions

Hold

Inclusion of mechanics + pills

Back to Work

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