Connected products creating safer homes for children

IKEA partnered with Above to make homes safer for families with young children, exploring how physical product innovation and connected digital experiences could work together to prevent furniture tip-over accidents.

The team defined and validated a set of hero safety concepts spanning both physical and digital dimensions. On the digital side, this included connected device features that gave parents real-time awareness and proactive alerts. On the physical side, the team developed interventions through CAD modeling and 3D printing, testing feasibility and desirability with users.

As the Lead Interaction Designer on the team, I designed the connected digital experiences that brought these concepts to life, translating physical safety scenarios into intuitive on-device interactions. I developed prototypes across physical and digital touchpoints that drove user testing and validated core assumptions, collaborating directly with IKEA stakeholders to sharpen the concepts ahead of handoff. The work helped shape IKEA's child-safety product development, including the SOLSTOL cabinet lock.