BRAND INFORMATION
GLOUV LITE is a sleek, convenient case for face masks. The portable case also has the added function of 6+ UV-C LED lights to defeat bacterial growth. Instead of crumpling up the face mask in the pocket or bags, GLOUV LITE provides a more sanitary way to store the face mask (Glouv Lite: sanitization & storage for your face mask 2021).
To counteract bacterial growth in every part of the face masks, GLOUV LITE has developed a wave-like interior design to promote the even spreading of the UV-C light across the surface of the face mask. GLOUV LITE kills 99.9% of bacteria and germs found on the face mask. (Portable UV face mask sanitiser)
GLOUV LITE aims to provide a finer solution for individuals who desire to have portable storage for their face masks in a more hygienic way and encourage individuals to practice environmentally friendly decisions.
WHY I PICKED THIS PRODUCT?
Since the Covid-19 pandemic hit Singapore and the rest of the world, wearing a face mask is compulsory as well as practising good personal hygiene habits.
SG Clean Taskforce leader Masagos Zulkifli highlighted the importance of hygiene during this disparaging period recently in a discussion showcased on national television. He stressed that measures such as quarantine and self-distancing would not be as effective if personal hygiene is neglected. (Liu, Good personal hygiene first line of defence against coronavirus: ST panel discussion 2020)
However, based on my personal experience, I noticed that there is no proper storage to keep our face mask clean when not in use. Thus, this causes the tendency to store the face mask in pockets and bags. I realized how unhygienic it is due to bacterial growth. Thus, I have chosen GLOUV LITE as it encourages a sanitary method of storing the mask when not in use.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
GLOUV is a specialized company selling a single product, GLOUV LITE. Based on their advertisement on their Kickstarter website and social media account (Instagram), their main target audience is focusing mainly on corporate workers, age ranging from 30 to 45 years old and leads a busy lifestyle.
A new target audience that GLOUV can be reaching out to is the youths ranging from 18 to 28 years old to maximise the company's sales. This target audience also leads an active, as well as a busy and hectic lifestyle due to schools, extra co-curricular activities and some, are also working.
With the ease of safety regulation, youths are more likely to socialize and engage in outdoor activities. (Goh & Chong, Youth in Singapore more likely to meet others for socialising in phase 2 of Covid-19 reopening: Survey 2020)
YOUTH'S PERSONALITY AND LIFESTYLE :
GLOUV LITE PROMOTES SUSTAINABILITY, THUS, THE CUSTOMER THAT THE BRAND IS TARGETING IS SOMEONE WHO IS ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS AND LEADS A LIFESTYLE OF PROTECTING AND CONSERVING THE NATURE.
GLOUV LITE IS DESIGNED AS A PORTABLE CASE WHERE CUSTOMERS CAN BRING IT ON THE GO, HENCE, THE BRAND IS TARGETING PEOPLE WITH A BUSY LIFESTYLE AND WANTS THE PRODUCT TO BE CONVENIENT AND EASY TO TRAVEL WITH.
GLOUV LITE ALSO PROMOTES SANITARY STORAGE OF THE MASKS HENCE, CUSTOMERS THAT THE BRAND IS TARGETING IS SOMEONE WHO IS HYGIENE CONSCIOUS WHICH REFERS TO AN INDIVIDUAL WHO KEEPS THEIR SURROUNDING CLEAN TO PREVENT GETTING ILL OR THE SPREAD OF DISEASE. PROBLEM STATEMENT:
How can I help Singaporean individuals who lead a busy lifestyle to store their face mask in a sanitary manner when not in use?
INTERVIEW:
THE MAIN QUESTIONS ASKED:
1. How do you usually store your face mask when not in use?
2. Do you think it is hygienic to reuse your face mask?
3. How often do you clean your face mask?
4. What are your regular day-to-day activities are?
Overall, the objective of the interview is to investigate the youth's lifestyle and values. The interview questions are asked for me to gain better insights into how the consumers lead their lives as well as their values and priorities but mainly about their opinions about storing their face mask and their pain points. This allows me to understand their point of view and the problems faced. Furthermore, their opinions are later used to guide me find an appropriate and feasible solution for them.
INTERVIEW OUTCOME:
Rifqah, 22 years old, student
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GluuFtpibEYbgIimFrTWeVn3F3fInfWl/view?usp=sharing
INFORMATION GATHERED: Rifqah mentioned that she does carry around any storage specifically to keep her face mask because she prefers to bring minimal products out and find that face mask storage can be bulky. She is an active person and indicates that she often jogs. She further explained that she would usually hang the face mask on her arms while jogging and would reuse the mask after, despite, sharing that she felt it is unhygienic to do so.
INSIGHTS: Rifqah is an active person and loves outdoor activities, she reuses her face mask after activity, however, feels that it is unhygienic to reuse the mask but has no proper storage to keep face mask when outdoor. 
Annette, 21 years old, student
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C22Kc1xf0XuPLK21TjZtaUvpm1Z9pw4U/view?usp=sharing
INFORMATION GATHERED: Annette shared that she has a casing specifically for her face mask but often she would hang the face mask on the bag or either store it inside her pocket. She also mentioned that she does not clean her casing often. She also shared that she felt that it is unhygienic to reuse her face mask and shared that she has a strong desire to keep on changing her face mask throughout the day however, says that she has no choice but to reuse the face mask.
INSIGHTS: Annette is someone who loves to socialize with friends, uses disposable mask often and store face mask in a casing. However, feels that it is still unhygienic to reuse face mask even though stored inside a casing and says disposable face mask is less safe for the environment. 
Belinda, 21 years old, student
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MwVSR_e4fvuBwrPjaT2qtUcvDVKGL10t/view?usp=sharing
INFORMATION GATHERED: Belinda shared that she often shove her face mask inside her pocket or bag. She also shared that she believes it is unhygienic to reuse the face mask and further explain that the face mask often condenses inside the bag and she feels that it is unsanitary but due to being at school often, she would reuse the face mask. She shared that she washes her face mask daily and keeps an extra reusable face mask.
INSIGHTS: Belinda leads a busy lifestyle and often goes out. She would store her face mask inside her bag or pocket when eating out and would reuse it after, however, she feels that it is unhygienic to reuse the face mask. 
Nurul Syahidah, 20 years old, student
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vDUe31i9mzY5E4p8WClidanSRmd-Lk4m/view?usp=sharing
INFORMATION GATHERED: Syahidah mentioned that she leads a busy lifestyle and spends most of her time completing her assignments. She shared that she is too busy and often forgets to wash her face mask. She shared that she stores her face mask inside a Ziplock bag but felt it can be unhygienic and believes that face mask storage should be affordable and compact to bring around.
INSIGHTS: Syahidah leads a busy lifestyle, she would store her face mask inside a bag because is much convenient for her although, it is unsanitary. 
Nurul Syamilah, 18 years old, student
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uvgX6Z9-PwbWbT7gCVT8ww7enODdBoOv/view?usp=sharing
INFORMATION GATHERED: Syamilah shared that she often goes on jog and outing with her friends. She shared that she stores all her face mask inside a Ziplock bag. She expressed that she sometimes sweat through the mask due to the weather hence, feels that is it unhygienic to reuse the mask but she shared that she only washes the masks at the end of the week.
INSIGHTS: Syamilah leads a busy lifestyle and love to socialise, would store her face mask together in a ziplock bag, however, she feels it's unhygienic to store the face mask inside a ziplock bag.
INTERVIEW SUMMARY:
Based on the interview, the pain points that I have first identified is that reusing face mask is unhygienic but to them, they do not have proper storage to keep them clean. Most of the interviewee mentioned that they store their face masks either inside the bag, casing or Ziplock bags but they expressed that despite, storing them in such a way, they felt it is unhygienic to do so.
Another pain point that I have identified is that some found carrying storage for face mask inconvenient as it is bulky to carry around. Some own a face mask casing but prefer to hang the face mask on their bag instead.
Furthermore, many mentioned that they lead a busy lifestyle hence, they forget to wash their face mask, as a result, most of them buys and owns a lot of reusable face mask or wears disposable ones.
In a nutshell, from what I have gathered, the interviewees values convenience and hygiene.
2X2 MATRIX
From what I have gathered from the interview, I can better plan and prioritise my tasks using the 2 x 2 matrix. The most important and difficult task is findings ways to disinfect face mask while storing them. Most of the interviewee expresses that they do not have proper storage for their face mask and most of them value hygiene.
INNOVATE
IDEA 1
The interviewee mentioned that they lead a busy lifestyle and one cycle of disinfecting a face mask last for 15 minutes for optimum disinfecting. GLOUV LITE only has an on and off switch thus, I would improve the product by adding 3 disinfecting cycle switches. Swift cleaning (5 minutes), 10 minutes (moderate cleaning) and 15 minutes (deep cleaning). This allows users to choose the duration of how fast they want their mask to be ready if they need it on the go. An OLED screen will also be installed as an added feature to display the battery life and to notify customers when the face mask is ready to be used.
INSPIRATION FOR IDEA 1
IDEA 2
Based on the interview, some mentioned that they do not like to bring storage specifically for face mask due to the bulkiness. GLOUV LITE has a wide width making the casing bulky thus, I would further improve GLOUV LITE by having the casing slightly thinner. Some of the interviewees also mentioned an active lifestyle and they would often hang their face mask on their arms instead. Thus, I would further improve the product by also adding a detachable strap so that users can either carry it out while jogging or remove it when just storing it inside the bags thus, it is more convenient for them.
INSPIRATION FOR IDEA 2
INTRODUCING THE NEW AND IMPROVED PRODUCT, KAZE.
KAZE is a smart casing for the face mask. It is digitally advanced, compact and portable. KAZE used technology such as 6+ UV-C LED lights to defeat bacterial growth. Due to the thin and sleek casing design, it is lightweight and easy to store in the bag. All in all, KAZE is convenient and encourage users to adopt good personal hygiene habits.
KAZE uses 6+ UV-C LED light technology to prevent bacterial growth on the face mask. With the wave-like interior structure, KAZE is able to spread the UV-C LED light across the face mask. KAZE has an added feature of 3 disinfecting cycle switches, it allows users to choose the duration of the disinfecting cycle depending on how long they require the face mask to be ready to use.
Together with the OLED screen feature, KAZE also has an added timer function thus, users can be notified when the face mask is ready to be used. Battery life will also be displayed on the OLED screen so that customers can be notified when they need to charge their KAZE casing.
KAZE is also suitable for users with an active lifestyle, a detachable strap will be provided. Whenever the users are doing a sports activity such as jogging or hiking, they can attach the detachable strap to the KAZE casing. This allows them to carry their face mask easily and allows the face mask to disinfect while they are doing their sports activity instead of storing their face mask in their pocket or exposed to the open environment.
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REFERENCES
Glouv Lite: sanitization & storage for your face mask. Kickstarter. (2021, April 9). https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/glouv/glouv-lite-innovative-storage-for-your-face-mask?ref=discovery_category_ending_soon.
Goh, T., & Chong, C. (2020, August 17). Youth in Singapore more likely to meet others for socialising in phase 2 of Covid-19 reopening: Survey. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/poll-youth-likelier-to-meet-more-groups-for-socialising.
Liu, V. (2020, March 23). Good personal hygiene first line of defence against coronavirus: ST panel discussion. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/good-personal-hygiene-first-line-of-defence-against-covid-19.
Portable UV face mask sanitiser. Glouv. (n.d.). https://www.glouv.com/.
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