Piatto Smart Tumbler
Designing a Smarter and Simpler Sip
Piatto is an innovative smart thermal tumbler designed to maintain beverages at the user's preferred temperature, whether warm or cool. This cutting-edge product combines sleek design with advanced technology, offering a personalized drinking experience. The Piatto system includes not only the tumbler itself but also a companion app that allows users to set and control their desired beverage temperature with ease.
Project Snapshot
Challenge
Create a market-defining smart tumbler that balances advanced features, usability, and cohesive branding across physical and digital touchpoints.
Goal
Deliver a user-friendly, technologically advanced product and app that sets a new standard in the smart drinkware market.
Result
Piatto launched with a timeless brand, lively packaging, and an intuitive app, establishing itself as a category leader.
Personal Impact
As the UX/UI designer for the Piatto project, My role included designing the user interface for the companion app, developing the product's branding, and ensuring a seamless integration between the physical product and digital interface. I collaborated closely with the industrial design team to align the app's functionality with the tumbler's features, creating an intuitive and engaging user experience.
Challenge
The main challenge was to engineer a product that would stand out in the emerging smart tumbler market. This required integrating branding, packaging, and app design while ensuring the product was both innovative and accessible. Balancing advanced technology with ease of use-and coordinating across multiple disciplines-was essential to success.
High-Level Business Goals
Establish Piatto as the benchmark for smart thermal tumblers.
Deliver a seamless user experience across hardware and digital platforms.
Build a brand that communicates innovation, quality, and simplicity.
Ensure the product is accessible and appealing to a broad user base.
Research
We began with a deep dive into the habits and frustrations of coffee and tea drinkers, analyzing top tumblers and interviewing users across demographics. We partnered with the client to layer in market expertise, then synthesized findings into four personas representing the spectrum of user needs-from busy commuters to home office workers. This process revealed where existing products fell short and what users truly valued.
Pain Points
Inconsistent temperature maintenance in existing tumblers.
Overly complex controls or lack of digital integration.
Difficulty monitoring or adjusting beverage temperature on the go.
Lack of a cohesive brand or packaging experience.
Limited appeal to non-tech-savvy users.
Statistics: Coffee, Tea, and Caffeine Habits
Coffee is a daily ritual for 66% of Americans, and tea is the second most consumed beverage globally after water. Most users report re-heating their drinks at least once per day, and nearly half of all caffeine drinkers wish their beverages stayed at the perfect temperature longer.
Competitor Analysis
We analyzed leading products in the smart tumbler market and found that, while temperature control was a common feature, users frequently reported frustrations with unintuitive apps, limited battery life, and uninspired design. This revealed an opportunity for Piatto to deliver a more cohesive, enjoyable, and reliable experience-both in the physical product and its digital companion.
How Might We
How might we create mug that bridges the wants of gourmet coffee drinkers with the needs of people on the go?
How might we save users time, provide ease of mind, and deliver a consistent experience?
How might we create a mug that will consistently deliver the perfect cup—no matter how one personally defines perfection.
How might we add maximal value to users?
Ideate
We brainstormed ways to simplify temperature setting, provide clear feedback, and connect the app and tumbler seamlessly. Sketches and rapid wireframes explored touch controls, notification systems, and minimalist branding.
Personas
We developed four key personas to represent different user archetypes and their unique needs. These personas kept us grounded in real-world needs and ensured our solutions worked for a diverse audience.
Sarah: Early Tech Adopter (Biology Graduate Student)
Roberto: Active Lifestyle (Amazon Programmer)
John: On the Go Professional (Marketer)
Jennifer: The Gourmet Independent (Writer)
User Journey Map
We mapped each persona’s journey from unboxing to daily use:
Sarah: Sets her preferred temperature in the app, receives a notification when her drink is ready, and adjusts settings during study breaks.
Roberto: Uses quick-chill mode after a workout, checks battery status, and shares his settings with friends.
John: Schedules his tumbler to pre-heat before his morning commute and tracks usage stats.
Jennifer: Customizes her tumbler’s LED color and explores new recipes in the app.
Moodboards
Our moodboards blended sleek, modern lines with inviting colors and tactile materials. We drew inspiration from luxury tech and classic kitchenware, aiming for a look that felt both advanced and approachable. The result was a brand that promised both performance and pleasure.
Mobile App Information Architectures and Wireframes
For the app, we prioritized a simple temperature dial, real-time status, and easy pairing with the tumbler. Wireframes mapped out a home dashboard, temperature presets, battery status, and notification settings. Every screen was designed for clarity and speed, minimizing taps to key actions.
Solution
Piatto’s final design featured a double-walled, vacuum-insulated tumbler with embedded sensors, a classic logo mark, and a lively, informative package. The app allowed users to set, monitor, and adjust temperature in seconds, with instant feedback and smart notifications.
Branding
We developed a timeless logo and a color palette that signaled both innovation and warmth. Brand guidelines covered packaging, digital assets, and tone of voice, ensuring every touchpoint-from unboxing to daily use-felt uniquely Piatto.
Mobile App
The companion app was designed for intuitive control: users could set their preferred temperature, receive alerts when their drink was ready, and monitor battery life. The app’s visual language mirrored the tumbler’s design, creating a seamless experience.
Outcome
The final outcome of the Piatto project was tremendously rewarding. We successfully created a smart thermal tumbler that not only met but exceeded our initial goals. The product features a sleek and classic logo mark that effectively represents the brand's identity. The packaging is lively and attractive, enhancing the overall user experience from the moment of purchase. The companion app is engaging and user-friendly, providing seamless control over the tumbler's temperature settings.
What I Learned
Working on the Piatto as a UX/UI Designer taught me the importance of seamlessly integrating physical product design with digital interfaces to create a cohesive user experience. I learned to balance innovative features with user-friendly design, ensuring that advanced technology remains accessible to a wide range of users. Additionally, this project reinforced the value of comprehensive research and persona development in creating a product that truly addresses diverse user needs and sets new standards in the market.
