Bud: The Smart Pregnancy Companion

One of the main functions of design, is to make life easier on the user. The accomplishment of this function, as well as the simple, clean design of Bud, is what made this product stand out. Bud is the smart pregnancy companion. It helps pregnant women track their progress through the sometimes uncertain months of pregnancy and pulls relevant data from trusted pregnancy sources to ease women's worries and questions during pregnancy and serve as keepsake once the baby is born. Bud definitely caught our eyes at Brave the Woods, as we are expecting our second little Braver of the Woods this summer.

This product was designed by students Vidhi Goel and Eliz Ayaydin as part of their MFA Products of Design Program. The description of Bud states, "Bud, at its brand essence, offers mothers and their families a spirited journey. It celebrates and educates pregnant women by providing them with analog feedback, comfort in their pregnancy progression, and a unique memento of their adventure." The product packaging and overall design is so clever with it's egg-like device packaged in its own little nest.

Each week, a women can take her measurments and Bud will use those to track her overall progress and print messages about the babies development and progress. This is a way for the mother to see milestones and know what is going on with her child's development. Everything is built in to the device, including the tape measurer, and data is pulled from trusted online sources to give the mother up-to-date information from medical professionals. Women can even send messages and pictures of their bump to Bud to have as part of the printed messages. At the end of the pregnancy, the fully printed spool of tracked progress becomes a memento of  the pregnancy.

To read more about Bud, check it out here.