Research Project: Amble

This project began as a future-facing design brief: to imagine a product or service that could meaningfully support people in their 60s by the year 2065. Our team aimed to explore how emerging technologies could respond to human needs in more natural, emotionally attuned ways.

Rather than building yet another piece of high-tech hardware, we imagined something radically different — a living, bio-engineered plant system that could integrate into the home, offering ambient, decentralised intelligence to support daily life, regulate the environment, and nurture emotional wellbeing.

From the outset, I approached this as a UX designer: focusing not just on what this product could do, but how people would experience it, especially those often underserved by traditional tech — such as older adults, neurodivergent individuals, and people with disabilities.

Through exploratory interviews and desk research, we surfaced recurring challenges people face in later adulthood:

• Difficulty managing routine household tasks as physical energy and memory decline

• Overload and frustration from complex, screen-heavy “smart” home devices

• Emotional isolation or lack of environmental stimulation

• Fear of losing independence or becoming dependent on caregivers

We saw an opportunity to design a system that reduces cognitive load, not adds to it, and offers support without surveillance.

Design challenge:

How might we design a supportive home system that enhances daily living and emotional wellbeing, while preserving autonomy and dignity?

Initially, the concept began as a home-assistant robot: a physical helper that monitored groceries, repairs, and cleaning tasks. However, this approach quickly revealed major UX issues: it risked being intrusive, mechanical, and overwhelming — the opposite of what our users wanted.

Through concept testing and feedback, we reframed our direction around a new idea:

What if the home could quietly care for you, like a living companion?

This led to the concept of Amble, a bio-engineered plant system that grows through the home, responding to daily routines, moods, and environmental cues. Unlike devices or robots, Amble is non-anthropomorphic, ambient, and slow — designed to blend in, not demand attention.

A key part of the UX process was defining who we were designing for and their motivations. We synthesized our research into core audience groups:

Primary Users

• Older Adults (60+): Value independence and calm; may experience reduced mobility or memory but remain mentally curious and active. They want supportive, simple, non-intrusive tools.

• People with Disabilities: Seek predictable routines, intuitive environments, and gentle support without cognitive overload.

Secondary Users

• Neurodivergent Adults: Benefit from sensory regulation, structured cues, and low-stimulation support.

• Caregivers and Adult Children: Want to support loved ones’ independence without increasing their own burden.

Across all groups, the emotional driver was clear: they wanted to remain independent, but not isolated. This became our north star for design decisions.

We treated branding as part of the user experience — it needed to reflect empathy, trust, and calmness, not “cutting-edge technology.”

Key brand elements:

• Name: Amble — evoking gentle pace, steady presence, and natural growth

• Tagline: “Let your home grow with you”

• Typography: Serif typefaces (based on research showing they are perceived as more mature, trustworthy, and calm — Shaikh et al., 2006)

• Visual identity: Organic, flowing forms and muted natural tones to cue warmth, softness, and non-intrusiveness

We defined two potential brand purposes during exploration:

• Purpose A: “To empower independence with quiet, intuitive support”

• Purpose B: “To nurture emotional and sensory balance through living design”

This branding foundation helped shape not only the aesthetic, but also the tone of communication and interactions within the product — ensuring every touchpoint felt gentle and human-centered.

We organized Amble’s features into clear functional pillars. This clarified the UX architecture and helped communicate its purpose to users and stakeholders:

Core Intelligent Functions

• Decentralised ambient intelligence

• Self-regulating maintenance

• Environmental adjustment based on user activity

Domestic Utility Functions

• Supply monitoring (groceries, household essentials)

• Gentle help with laundry

• Composting and garbage compression

• Modular furniture or storage rearrangement

Emotional and Sensory Support

• Mood detection through environmental and behavioral signals

• Co-regulation feedback (adjusting scent, sound, lighting)

• “Mood blooming” — plant growth patterns reflect user wellbeing

• Aromatherapy and plant sonification (soft natural sounds)

Personalisation & Adaptation

• Lifestyle-responsive growth

• Adaptive aesthetic evolution over time

• Seamless routine integration

Wearable Component

• A portable plant module that filters air and absorbs pollutants

• Can be worn or carried, offering environmental sensing and sensory comfort on the go

To validate these features, we grounded them in evidence-based research from multiple fields:

• Emotional regulation & sensory environments: Natural and multisensory cues (light, sound, scent) improve mood, relieve pain, and stabilize emotions (Ulrich et al., 2008; Marin & Luque-Rojas, 2025).

• Stress reduction & sleep quality: Controllable environments and calming ambient design enhance rest and lower stress (Ulrich et al., 2008).

• Inclusive design: Predictable, multisensory environments support independence for older adults and neurodivergent users (Marin & Luque-Rojas, 2025).

• Therapeutic homes: The home can act as an active participant in health management, reinforcing healthy routines (Papadopoulos, Singh & Lin, 2025).

• Bioengineered plants: Synthetic biology enables plants to act as environmental sensors and interfaces (Mudrilov et al., 2021; Choi et al., 2024).

• AI & smart living: AI and IoT can automate plant care and enable explainable, customizable interactions (Harfouche et al., 2024; IEEE Xplore, 2024).

• Human–plant interaction: Engagement with plants improves wellbeing, focus, and resilience, especially for older adults (Khadka & Dangal, 2022).

This research gave the concept scientific plausibility while guiding our UX priorities: calm, predictable feedback, emotional co-regulation, and low-effort interaction.

We mapped the experience of a future user (ourselves imagined at age 60+) to identify emotional and functional needs at each stage:

1. Discovery: They encounter Amble through a wellness expo or family recommendation. They’re intrigued by its natural form and promise of quiet support.

2. Registration: They sign up after seeing that it’s simple, customisable, and non-intrusive — not a gadget to manage.

3. Onboarding: It’s installed effortlessly and immediately begins adapting to their space, offering subtle cues and environmental adjustments.

4. Living with it: It becomes part of the home, offering soft encouragement and sensory comfort. They begin showing it to friends as something that brings them joy.

5. Outcome: They feel calmer, more organised, and more independent — supported without being watched or managed.

This journey emphasised the need for emotional reassurance and trust-building at early stages, and low-friction, ambient interaction once in use.

From this process, we derived guiding UX principles to shape all interactions and visual decisions:

• Quiet by default: Presence should be felt, not seen — low visual noise, subtle cues.

• Support, not control: The system adapts to the user, not vice versa.

• Coexistence over automation: It enhances routines without taking over or removing agency.

• Emotional resonance: Every interaction should feel calming, not task-like.

• Inclusive by nature: Designed from the ground up for sensory, cognitive, and physical accessibility.

These principles helped us maintain alignment between branding, features, and the user’s lived experience.

This project pushed me to think beyond conventional human-computer interaction, asking:

How can design be alive, ambient, and emotionally attuned?

I learned how to:

• Translate complex research into user-centered design opportunities

• Use speculative design to imagine future contexts while staying grounded in real needs

• Balance functionality and emotion in interaction design

• Craft a coherent brand identity as part of the overall user experience

• Center dignity, inclusion, and emotional wellbeing as primary design values

Amble isn’t just a concept, it represents a vision of care through coexistence.

Rather than demanding attention or interaction, it offers presence without pressure — a design principle I aim to carry forward in my UX career.