PLANIT · Innovation project · 16 weeks

Exaptive innovation · New-market discovery · 2026

Aura.Beyond form.

A project developed for PLANIT to turn a latent capability of Corian into a new night-time experience.

We did not start with a product. We started with a question: what new meanings can a material take on when we stop looking at it only through its established uses?

Explore the project
Company
PLANIT ↗
Challenge
New feasible products, markets and value from waste
Approach
Exaptive innovation and technology brokering
My contribution
Research, reframing, concept, UX/UI and validation
01 — ChallengeThe starting point

The material was known.
Its next value was not.

PLANITChallenge brief · CIL 2026
Create new value from solid surface: for existing clients, new markets and production waste.
PLANIT had deep expertise in processing Corian and other solid-surface materials, particularly for bathroom and kitchen applications. The challenge was to turn that manufacturing knowledge into feasible new products and distinctive new value propositions.
01

Serve existing clients better

Find new, feasible products that PLANIT could offer to its existing client base by building on current capabilities and relationships.

02

Reach new clients

Generate product ideas with unique selling points beyond bathroom and kitchen applications, opening access to new markets and user groups.

03

Turn waste into value

Explore how offcuts and production waste could become valuable products instead of remaining an unavoidable cost of manufacturing.

The human problem we uncovered.

At night, using the bathroom often means choosing between two extremes: moving in darkness with reduced orientation, or switching on a bright light and experiencing a sudden visual change that may also disturb someone sleeping nearby.

Extreme A

Darkness

Reduced orientation and greater uncertainty within the space.

Extreme B

Full light

Intense stimulation, glare and possible light spill into the bedroom.

02 — ProcessResearch before answers

Sixteen weeks to unlearn the obvious.

The project followed a complete innovation journey: understand the technology, cross industry boundaries, break functional fixedness, select opportunity spaces and validate a concept through evidence.

Week 01

Understand the potential

Kickoff with PLANIT, investigation of technical properties, limitations and existing uses; benchmarking of analogous technologies and mapping of performance attributes.

Technology auditBenchmarkContext mapping
Week 02

Cross boundaries

Interviews with users, designers, architects, buyers and experts outside the usual domain brought perspectives into the project that PLANIT did not encounter every day.

10+ boundary interviewsOpen innovationInsight clustering
Weeks 03–04

Break functional fixedness

We challenged automatic associations around Corian. Alternative uses, constraint reversal, metaphors and forced analogies revealed non-obvious attributes, users and contexts.

Alternative Uses TaskConstraint reversalMetaphor mappingReframing cards
Weeks 04–06

Converge on opportunities

The emerging directions were clustered, compared and narrowed down: first to four areas, then to three promising opportunities assessed through further interviews and shared criteria.

Opportunity mapping2×2 originality / feasibilityProblem reformulation
Weeks 07–10

Shape the concepts

We generated multiple applications, early prototypes, storyboards and digital models. Stakeholder feedback helped refine one leading concept and its value proposition.

Co-ideationRapid prototypingStakeholder feedback
Weeks 11–16

Validate, iterate, communicate

We tested desirability, feasibility and viability assumptions, analysed evidence, refined the technology and experience, and presented the final concept to PLANIT and the expert jury.

MVP testsConcept surveyValidation reportFinal pitch

Creativity had criteria.

Every idea had to answer four questions before becoming a project direction.

01

Originality

Does it genuinely move beyond current uses?

02

Feasibility

Does it build on available skills and properties?

03

Value

Does it solve a need with a perceptible advantage?

04

Potential

Can it unlock new segments and margins for PLANIT?

The turning point

Not “what other sink can we make?”, but “what else could this become?”

Existing capability

Backlit Corian

A property primarily used for aesthetic and decorative effects.

Non-obvious need

Night-time orientation

Moving through the bathroom without switching on harsh general lighting.

New function

Aura

The sink becomes a warm, subtle and reassuring luminous presence.

This is the exaptation at the heart of the project: an existing property changes function and creates value in a new context. The technology is not pushed into a market; it is reinterpreted through a human need.

03 — SolutionAura, the emerging concept

Light that does not intrude.
An object that guides.

Aura sink glowing warmly in a dark minimalist bathroom Aura · Night mode
The sink becomes the light.Warm, diffused illumination supports orientation without switching on harsh general lighting.
Minimalist bathroom vanity and Aura sink in natural daylight Day mode
Designed to belong.In daylight, Aura remains a clean and understated Corian washbasin.
Dark minimalist bathroom with warm glowing baseboard guidance Explored application
A wider material opportunity.The research also explored how backlit solid surface could guide movement throughout the bathroom.
◌

Backlit Corian

The material's translucency diffuses light through the volume without adding a visually separate lamp.

≈

Warm, adjustable light

A soft, dimmable emission designed to support orientation without the harsh character of general lighting.

⌁

Activation before touch

Proximity or motion detection switches Aura on before the person reaches the sink, making the interaction feel natural.

□

One object, two functions

A sink by day, a luminous guide by night. The solution remains aligned with PLANIT's manufacturing core and material language.

01

Enter

The person enters the bathroom while their eyes are still adapted to low light.

02

Detect

Aura senses their presence before they reach the sink.

03

Orient

The volume lights up gradually and makes the space readable.

04

Leave

The light fades without switches or additional gestures.

04 — EvidenceValidate before claiming

The concept was put to the test.

91.3%

Perceived comfort

Considered the proposed atmosphere more comfortable than conventional bathroom lighting.

73.9%

Automatic activation

Preferred a solution that activates automatically during the night-time experience.

90%

Hospitality value

Recognised value in the concept for hospitality and premium environments.

70%

Upgrade intent

Expressed interest in Aura as a potential upgrade to the bathroom experience.

Design rigour

These findings describe concept desirability, not clinical outcomes. Before industrialisation, PLANIT would still need to validate eye-level illuminance, spectrum and melanopic EDI, glare, bedroom light spill, safety and technical integration. This is why dimming is a requirement, not an option.

05 — My roleLeading innovation

I designed the journey, not just the outcome.

I connected strategy, research, creativity, UX/UI and feasibility in a clear, progressive and decision-oriented process.

  1. 01
    Research designStakeholder definition, boundary interviews, insight collection and synthesis.
  2. 02
    Creative facilitationReframing, analogies, functional-fixedness exercises and the opening of new opportunity spaces.
  3. 03
    Product & experience designThe Aura concept, interaction logic, lighting requirements and translation of the need into an experience.
  4. 04
    UX/UI & prototypingStoryboards, models, touchpoints and materials that made the concept understandable and testable.
  5. 05
    Validation & storytellingAssumption testing, interpretation of evidence and the final narrative for PLANIT.

Aura × PLANIT

Innovation means seeing another function where everyone else sees the same object.

An exaptive innovation project, from understanding the material to validating a new experience.