With the upcoming first episode of California by Design featured on June 27th, we at RKS Design are excited to provide a peek behind the scenes of how Baby Barista, one of several exciting stories, was created. The Baby Barista is a much needed game-changing solution for parents that takes only 30 seconds to make a baby bottle, with easy temperature and volume controls through a single-handed interface, a superbly sanitary self rinsing process and an easy user experience . The concept of Baby Barista came to mind at 3am, when Registered Nurse, Cara Armstrong was holding her hungry and crying daughter in one hand and struggling to make a bottle with the other. While making the bottle, she glanced at her coffee maker and thought about how making coffee was so easy while her daughter had to wait fifteen minutes for her bottle. Since that moment, Baby Barista’s mission has been to simplify the formula-feeding experience. With a subscription service, Baby Barista delivers concentrated formula pouches to your doorstep every month that can be used either in the machine or taken on the go. Developed by infant nutrition experts, with 100% transparency on ingredients, the pouches are FDA-approved and easily ordered from your mobile device. With the smartphone app, you can start your bottle preparation from the bedroom, and track feedings automatically and share the data with your pediatrician.
“It’s not often we, as designers, get to develop a product with the potential for making such a positive impact on the lives of new parents and their hungry babies. The outcome is one I’m immensely proud of. It was a development program that pulled on every single design discipline in our team – truly a combined effort – to create a super simple user experience that belied the complexity within.” — Mike Elam, RKS Design Director of Product Development
RKS researched, innovated, designed, and developed Baby Barista to reinvent the formula-feeding experience. The RKS team generated a fully functional proof of concept prototype that proved the need for a more empowering user experience user testing. The RKS designers, engineers and researchers collaborated with Cara and her team to bring her vision of a market-ready solution that gives back much needed time to parents with ease of use and a completely sanitary way.
“I had a litany of choices when it came to selecting an industrial design firm to bring Baby Barista to life. This critical decision greatly impacted the future of my product and ultimately its potential for success. I sought a design philosophy and methodology that spoke to me as an inventor, a woman and a parent. When I met the RKS team and learned that their sweet spot was designing products that created an emotional connection with consumers, I leaned in. Baby Barista meets parents at a very exciting and vulnerable place in their parenting journey. It was imperative that the product we created not just meet their needs, but exceed their expectations and enrich their lives.
The RKS approach was not only creative, it was objective and pragmatic. My team and I were allowed to be active participants throughout the entire process and our voices were heard. Working collaboratively deepened my understanding of our target consumer. The RKS seven-step “Psycho-Aesthetic” process that is the cornerstone of their design philosophy allowed my team to do a deep dive into the psyche of our end-user and inform key design decisions. It was this inside-out approach that allowed us to build a truly disruptive product.”- Cara Armstrong, CEO of Baby Barista
Premieres June 27, 2020
KCBS Los Angeles-Saturdays at 3PM
KPIX Bay Area Saturdays at 7 PM
Encore Broadcasts
KBCW Bay Area-Starts June 28th at 11:30 AM
KCLA Los Angeles-Starts July 4th at 5:30 PM
