The Challenge
Despite developing an award-winning Oral-B mobile app with sophisticated AI-powered brushing guidance, we identified a critical friction point: consumers weren't using it consistently. The reality of bringing your phone into the bathroom twice daily, opening an app, and keeping it active during the entire brushing routine created unnecessary barriers to getting the coaching they needed.
Our vision was clear: create a Smart Oral Care Products portfolio that would deliver coaching, guidance, and feedback seamlessly—helping consumers know they're getting the best results for their time, money, and effort invested in their oral health.
The Core Question
How simple could we make an interface that ensured consumers got the best experience with the least friction on a twice-daily basis?
My Role & Approach
As Design Lead on a three-person core team (alongside an Engineer and a Marketer), I brought both my vision and the full capabilities of my Industrial and UX/UI Design teams to bear on this challenge. My ownership spanned the critical early stages:
- Early Product Concept Creation: Defining the strategic direction and exploring opportunity spaces
- Form Development: Translating abstract concepts into tangible product forms
- Prototyping: Building functional prototypes to validate technical feasibility and user experience
- Visualization: Creating assets for social media-based behavioral research to test concepts with real users
The Design Process
Exploration Phase
We began by exploring three distinct configurations for a smart charging base, each with different approaches to delivering guidance and feedback. This exploration phase was critical in understanding the solution space and technical constraints.
Oral-B Guide Learning
We even launched an intermediate product—Oral-B Guide—that integrated Amazon Alexa directly into the charging base. This bold experiment taught us valuable lessons about complexity vs. simplicity, and what features truly served the core use case versus what created additional friction.
Simplification & Focus
Drawing from our learnings, we returned to first principles: what's the simplest possible interface that delivers maximum value? This led us to the iO Sense concept—coaching integrated directly into the charging base with an elegant LED guidance system and digital display.
Strategic Rationale
The charging base emerged as the optimal solution for four key reasons: (1) easily viewable while brushing, (2) more cost-effective than a smart mirror, (3) constantly powered to support the interface, and (4) already part of the user's daily routine. It was hiding in plain sight.
The Innovation
iO Sense represents a category first: the first time any power toothbrush brand had built an AI-based position detection and brushing coach system into any interface—much less one not on the brush itself. This breakthrough eliminated the need for phone interaction entirely, providing real-time coaching on time, pressure, and coverage directly via the charger.
Key Features
- 6-Zone LED Guidance System: Visual representation of mouth zones with real-time coverage feedback
- Built-in Digital Clock & Timer: Dual-purpose display showing time and 2-minute brushing countdown
- Pressure Sensor Feedback: Direct visual indication when brushing too hard, too soft, or just right
- AI Position Detection: Tracks brushing across all 3 tooth surfaces without requiring phone
- 3-Hour Fast Magnetic Charging: Secure magnetic connection with rapid recharge capability
- App Sync Capability: Optional deeper insights for users who want detailed tracking
"How simple could we make an interface that ensured consumers got the best experience with the least friction on a twice-daily basis?"
Business Impact
The iO Sense enabled P&G Oral Care to reach an unprecedented $399 ultra-premium price point while significantly differentiating our offering versus competition. This wasn't just about premium pricing—it was about establishing a new category standard that competitors would need to match.
Market Impact
- Market Growth: Accelerated demand in the premium electric toothbrush segment, driving overall market expansion
- Competitive Edge: Solidified Oral-B's market dominance, achieving high market share and attracting users from manual brush categories
- Tech Standard: Established a new benchmark for smart oral care with integrated coaching, pushing competitors to innovate
- Digital Health Ecosystem: Expanded the connected oral health space by integrating data collection and personalized feedback
- Professional Adoption: Partnered with 1,000+ dental offices for recommendations and education
Category-Defining Innovation
First power toothbrush brand to integrate AI-powered position detection and coaching into a charging base, setting a new standard for frictionless smart oral care.
Awards & Recognition
Honored for innovative design and smart iO Sense technology that guides brushing
International recognition for design excellence and innovation
Recognized as "Best Premium Electric Toothbrush"
Awarded "Best Splurge Toothbrush" for comprehensive features
Key Learnings
This project reinforced several principles that guide my approach to design leadership:
Simplicity Through Iteration
Sometimes the path to simplicity requires exploring complexity first. Oral-B Guide taught us what features truly mattered versus what created friction.
Design for Daily Reality
The best technology disappears into routine. By integrating coaching into an object already in the user's daily workflow, we removed barriers to adoption.
Strategic Constraints Drive Innovation
Choosing the charging base over a handle display or smart mirror wasn't just cost-driven—it forced us to innovate within meaningful constraints, leading to a more elegant solution.
Outcome
The iO Sense Smart Charging Base achieved what we set out to do: eliminate friction in smart oral care while delivering coaching that genuinely improves consumer outcomes. By generating $100M+ in first-year revenue targets, achieving 30% conversion of manual brush users in key markets, and establishing a new category benchmark, we proved that thoughtful design leadership combined with strategic execution creates lasting business value.
More importantly, we created a product that consumers love—evidenced by 4.5/5 stars across 1,000+ reviews and recognition from both industry awards and dental professionals worldwide. This wasn't just about winning awards or hitting revenue targets; it was about fundamentally improving how millions of people approach their oral health every day.