JUUL—
E-cigarette designed with adult smokers in mind,
from form to technology to flavor
Semester-long entrepreneurship research project to build prototype to help people control smoking
+ A 1-Day design sprint to make full use of tracking data
ROLE
Research + 3D prototype + Design
AWARD
Honorable Mention in the 2019 Big Show
—A panel of local Ann Arbor business incubators
CONTEXT
Entrepreneurial Creativity, University of Michigan
TEAM
Sean—programmer | Sunjae, Yong—researchers
The problem
As JUUL sales increased more than 600% in 2018, JUUL’s main marketing strategy appealed to heavy smokers as a stoppage method for their addiction.
But it does not make it any easier to quit nor control.
Although CDC may have confirmed that e-cigarettes have potential benefits for some smokers, the problem soon emerged as people lost control of their intake, which triggered their addiction to shift from traditional cigarettes to the JUUL epidemic.
Unlike traditional cigarettes which people can physically observe the number of cigarettes decrease in a pack, the frequency of changing a JUUL pod only comes when they reach 20 cigarettes worth of nicotine.
Along with the inability to track how much people are smoking, there was also the element of hype overload that became a bigger problem among the younger generation:
“I’ve heard vaping is less harmful than smoking.”
“First, I felt buzzed but started having dizziness.”
“I don’t know how many pods I smoked every week.”
“I wish I can keep track of my vaping.”
Enhance tracking experience
One JUUL pod is known to contain the nicotine equivalent to one pack of cigarettes. However, the current model is not equipped with a function that indicates how many cigarettes they are potentially smoking.
We wanted to understand if the user knew how many JUUL puffs were equal to one traditional cigarette to stay informed of their daily nicotine intake. There I asked; How might we help users control their nicotine consumption accurately and unobtrusively by allowing them to track their e-cigarette use?
UNDERSTAND WHAT METHODS OF TRACKING ARE IN DEMAND
—
Vaping is an alternative to cigarettes, a method to socialize, a way to feel buzzed, or a tool to enjoy the flavor. The reason in becoming a vapor for every user was different, yet indirect visibility of intake overlooked their tolerance to nicotine. Subsequently, many built the “JUUL Habit”—aka. becoming addicted or dependent on nicotine—and experienced side effects along with the financial burden spent on supplies.
1. Why people would track usage of vaping:
To quit
To track their smoke-free progress
To track the daily savings
2. How people attempted to control their usage:
Track smoke-free days
Manually type in every puff
Meet care team
HOW TO LET USERS UNDERSTAND WHAT/WHEN IS ENOUGH FOR THEM?
—
I asked “yes” or “no” questions to 21 students between ages 19-28 on the university campus to easily collect data. The working effect was strong that the user input showed they:
Preferred vaping than smoking a traditional cigarette.
Were concerned about nicotine consumption.
Opted for lower nicotine level pod.
Smoked no more than a pod a day; less than a full pack of cigarettes.
Were excited to track their usage.
👀 Attempt to stop busy students for the survey @UMich
Collecting user behavior as indicators, I found out that people wish to have some degree of control over their consumption of nicotine.
Take the user feedback to a next level
As users were excited to track their usage, the immediate aim was to discover the minimum viable design that serve as a usage indicator.
First, our programmer deconstructed the current JUUL to understand the basic mechanism in designing the circuit. There we discovered the preinstalled LED had a fair amount of power to build a visual indicator. We decided our MVP to build a visual tracking system to monitor e-cig usage. The plan was to build a source code to crate sequence and convert it using microcontroller to display light that seems to move along a row.
MAKE FULL USE OF THE DEVICE
—
We approached the idea with a simple rule: when inhaling the pod = auto-firing is on. Then I researched and found out the average nicotine inhaled per puff to be .2mg. We decided to generate 6 signals using the power from preinstalled LED and connect it to the circuit to activate our indicator. The goal was to switch-off one bulb per puff which leads to approximately half a cigarette per indicator cycle.
↓ LED status indicator
↓ Initial sketch
↳ Alternative solution
However, I found out the JUUL LED tends to turn on even when the user is not smoking due to the moisture triggering pressure switch. Relying on the preinstalled light became a major flaw when measuring nicotine consumption. As an alternative solution to keep the prototype going:
1. Added a switch to generic code to prevent the counter from increasing when not in use.
2. Used the analogWrite to fade the LED light since Arduino Nano had a limited amount of digital output we could use for LED.
—In the future, we hope to have a custom circuit with more digital output to build more and consistent LED light along with a better solution for battery shortages.
The nature of the product was heavily engineering-based. I focused on mediating between the programmer and the outsourcer to build understandings of technical errors with the coding job and circuit soldering. With knowledge, I was able to instantly move on to the design phase.
IDEATE
—
I designed and 3D printed the final prototype for JUUL with a tracking feature while considering the ergonomic placement of the button and the indicators. Constantly observing vapers’ habits of how they held the product while smoking helped me further develop the design. The suggestion I provided to less likely annoy users was to hold the device using their right hand to “disable” the feature visibility.
Soldered under supervision of outsourced electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. student.
In order for the outer case to wrap the circuit without irritating the usability of the product, a number of modifications and 3D printing were needed to create unobstructive product experience and meet users’ expectations.
Unexpectedly, the thickness of the case provided a feeling of bulkiness and became a key challenge to sort out unbiased user feedback.
—Overall, users found the feature to be seamlessly interactive enough to encourage self-awareness.
Reflection
THE BIG SHOW PRESENTATION
—
Although we were pressed against time to meet the deadline to present our final prototype, we received Honorable Mention out of 71 teams at the Big Show on April 8, 2019.
Additionally, Juul C1 with Bluetooth was released on July 29, 2019, in the UK for trial sale with the feature— Monitor Your Usage. However, this feature was a pilot program and has been discontinued in 2020.
While JUUL focused to restrict underage access, I wanted to further develop the feature to help adults control their usage and encourage stronger awareness of their vaping habits.
DESIGN FOR MOBILE
—
After the project, I designed the interface on my own to help people grow understanding of their vaping habit. To encourage and initiate self-awareness gained from the strip of LED, I wanted to make full use of the data that could be collected from the usage indicator. Experimenting with the moment of intervention I can bring to the community, I was eager to help users make a better decision—whether to quit, control, or just to stay notified of their vaping habit.
Users can either sync their case to collect data on their smoking habit or simply use the LED indicator to watch their intake or both!
TOTAL PUFFS
Keep track of total daily puff amount to stay aware of their nicotine consumption.
LED ON/OFF
To better handle annoyance from the light indicators, users may turn off the visibility yet keep informed of their total intake.
DAILY PUFF LIMIT
Ability to control their designated puff limit per day to increase nicotine consumption awareness.
PERSONALIZED LED COLOR
LED color personalization features can provide an incentive and freshness for people to continue tracking their puffs.
Chang in color can also offer the “Party Mode” 🎉
Being critical:
Despite the direct visibility of the feature located on the exterior of the device, I found it becomes relatively easy for people to get used to the function and neglect it. Therefore, as a method to keep up the retention rate, I expanded on the idea of utilizing a pre-installed mechanism to bring multicolor options when puffing 💨
[Original JUUL blinks white when charging, green when charged 100%, yellow for moderate battery, red for low battery stage.]
What I wish we validated with the users
It might have been beneficial to add a survey question: if equipping JUUL with a new tracking function would lead to customers confiding more in the company and lead to an increase of sales under the positive image it would cast the company under.
Validating with the recent study at the institution
“Affixing it directly to vaping devices and syncing it with cell phones is expected to yield more accurate results than methods requiring people to record their vaping habits manually.” - Melanie Lefkowitz, 2020 Cornell Chronicle