evolution x
2025
Evolution X is a new kind of travel pillow designed to keep your head from falling forward. Common travel pillows support the back of the head where arguably least support is needed. Evolution X lets you rest your head forward keeping it at a gentle angle that provides relaxation and comfortable sleep.
client
Cabeau
services
Ethnographic Research
Opportunity Mapping
Value Proposition Development
Product Architecture
Design
Ergonomic Testing
Color, Material and Finish
Packaging Architecture
heads up!
Consider this when sleeping on a plane: The load of your head on your spine increases from 12 pounds to up to 60 pounds as your head falls forward. That stiff neck and tension headache are a reminder of a bad night in economy. Cabeau partnered with RITUAL to solve this issue and design the next generation of travel pillow.
“As the head falls forward the stress on the spine increases exponentially to unhealthy levels. Most competitive products are completely inadequate in providing support.”
how it works
We designed evolution x to feature unique functionality and make it the best travel pillow in the market.
how it works
hey, good-looking!
Wear this with your best threads not your travel PJs! Evolution X borrows visual cues and color schemes from fashion, furniture, and athletic goods making it a fashion statement with high recognition value.
“You can look good wearing this around the airport.”
self-explanatory
While evolution X is a revolutionarily product designed to be self-explanatory in non-assisted sales at the airport. We opted for an evolutionary change to the well established visual archetype and usage model of the “horseshoe” to provide comfort and familiarity but a fresh and never-before-seen VBL of our key benefits of frontal support and ventilation.
self-explanatory
While evolution X is a revolutionarily product designed to be self-explanatory in non-assisted sales at the airport. We opted for an evolutionary change to the well established visual archetype and usage model of the “horseshoe” to provide comfort and familiarity but a fresh and never-before-seen VBL of our key benefits of frontal support and ventilation.
what RITUAL did
We designed and developed evolution x from the inception of the idea (“wouldn’t it be nice if my head didn’t dangle on a flight”) all the way to production.
There was no shortage of challenges. We needed to provide the right balance of support and freedom of movement while providing comfortable resting positions for the head. We needed to provide ventilation to the front of the neck where major blood vessels create one of the most sensitive areas of the human body - the area incidentally also most valuable to position physical structure for frontal support. The product needed to be light weight, compact-able for travel and inexpensive to produce to achieve a competitive customer price in a high margin retail environment. Lastly - to avoid end user confusion and enable channel efficiencies - the product needed to fit all people with one size. This was not a small challenge given the ergonomic variations we encountered.
build, try, learn
We sketched and prototyped, tested and learned and then did it all over again in a rapid, iterative development process. The mockups were quick and imperfect but perfect for answering questions quickly. Here are a few examples of our work.
“Some of our early concepts were pretty wild but they paved the way for a successful solution.”
test, test, test
We iteratively developed the design of the product along the KPI of comfort, support and usability. Massive amounts of user testing were a natural component of the process.
test, test, test
We iteratively developed the design of the product along the KPI of comfort, support and usability. A massive amount of user testing was a natural component of the process.
