Stuck In Heels

"Stuck in Heels" is the name of the first project I did at MITidm. The focus of the project was design research and storytelling. I chose to research the issues women face when wearing high heels. I worked on the project alone.

  • Design Research
  • MITidm
  • Service Design
  • Storytelling
  • Design Challenge
  • I wanted to pick a problem that I had never experienced before in order to ensure the integrity of the human centered design research methodology. By choosing the problem of how to deal with a long day in heels, there was never a temptation to color my results with what I myself would prefer in that situation. The specific problem that I addressed was what to do when the unexpected happens. For example, if you are out longer than intended, have to stay late at work, or don't have a backup pair of shoes. How do you continue to enjoy your evening without a bunch of blisters the next day?
  • Project Scope
  • The focus here is on design research and storytelling. The project went as far as to ideate and build LoFi (virtual, in this case) prototypes of some of the solutions, but the vast majority of the effort was in interviewing users, defining the problem, and telling the story of that problem.
The primary user need driving this project was that most women are not willing to interrupt their evening to solve this problem. The solution needed to be unobtrusive, convenient, and cheap.

I developed a combination of a network of vending machines that would sell flats at a variety of price points and styles, as well as an accompanying app to find machines that are close by.

See the Final Presentation
  • Target UserYoung Professional Women with active social lives
  • StakeholdersUsers, bars, event planners, corporate workplaces
  • Price$10-50 per pair
  • Design TeamEthan Carlson
Previous Project IDEO Co-Lab
Next Project Kitchen Canvas