Mello
UX Design, Product Strategy, Branding, Entrepreneurship
Team:
Jamie Haberman: Design
Suraya Shivji: Software & Design
Eric Deng: Hardware
Caitlyn Clabaugh: Machine Learning
Colleen Quinn: Aromatherapy Advisor
Mello is a project I’m currently working on with my roommate Suraya Shivji. Starting out as a team of two, we were both able to have our hands in the user & market research, design, tech and business aspects of this project.
Mello is an intelligent diffuser for the home that motivates a lifestyle of wellness for young adults through personalized aromatherapy. Mello leverages AI to mechanically create blends in real time based on the user’s changing moods and stress factors.
Check out our pitch deck below
+ our landing page in the works!
This is a render of the Mello diffuser in a bedroom.
When the users buys Mello, they can simply spring load the oils into the six slots, which are designed to only accept our oils.
Mello can be controlled by smart watches and voice-operated by smart devices. This connected experience allows Mello to tap into your heart rate, calendar, schedule, and more.
Adopting the Razor Blade Model, we have a fixed revenue stream for the diffuser, which we are selling for $15 a unit at a 20% margin. Pricing the diffuser at the Average Selling Price of $60 is unrealistic for our segment. So, we are selling Mello at a low price that is affordable for our target audience. The key is our recurring revenue stream, the essential oils, which we are charging users $10/month at an 83% margin.
Based on the 3.4 trillion dollar wellness market, consumers are clearly willing to spend on personal wellness. Within this vertical, the 240 m dollar segment of young adults is an under-served category that, based on our research, has a high growth rate. Thus, we are building this niche product to meet the growing and unmet demand of these wellness-conscious young adults.
Our direct competitors are other essential oil and diffuser selling companies like Muji, Pium, and Saje as well as other scent-based products for the home like Glade. Clearly, when it comes to aromatherapy, we’re far more advanced.
This is why we have indirect competitors include home devices like Google Home, Nest, and Amazon Alexa, who have never explored scent. Smart home products have skyrocketed in the last few years. People are now willing to bring companions into the home. While these products focus on technological and voice innovation, we believe that the home should care for you. Home products must be approached from a point of wellness, not just technology.
We believe that the home should take care of you. The future of Mello is a suite of products for the home that focus on personalized, data-driven, and passive wellness. For the Mello diffuser, our algorithm maps personal data to aroma; in the future, we will apply the same algorithm and data patterns to things like perfume, shampoo, and soap.